The 2020 elections in Ghana are slated for 7th December. Ghanaians will take to the polls to elect their president based on many issues. At Meqasa, we are concerned about housing in Ghana. Housing policies have always been a major issue for Ghanaians during an election and this year’s election will be no different. Data from the Electoral Commission indicates that there are currently 16,845,439 registered voters in Ghana and out of the 26 political parties in Ghana, only 12 of them will be on the ballot come December. Below are the candidates and their political parties.

READ ALSO: Affordable Houses for Sale in Ghana

Political Parties for the 2020 Presidential Elections in Ghana

1. NPP – Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party
2. NDC – John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress
3. GUM – Christian Kwabena Andrews of the Ghana Union Movement
4. CPP – Ivor Kobina Greenstreet of the Convention People’s Party
5. GFP – Madam Akua Donkor of the Ghana Freedom Party
6. GCPP – Henry Herbert Lartey of the Great Consolidated Popular Party
7. APC – Hassan Ayariga of the All People’s Congress
8. LPG – Kofi Akpaloo of the Liberal Party of Ghana
9. PNC – David Apasera of the People’s National Convention
10. PPP – Brigitte Dzogbenuku of the Progressive People’s Party
11. NDP – Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings of the National Democratic Party
12. Independent Candidate – Asiedu Walker

The next phase of Ghana politics will be decided at the ballot box. We have highlighted excerpts from the manifestoes of these political parties which have to do with housing in Ghana. Some political parties did not have a website or a working one so we could not fetch their manifestoes as of 9th November, 2020. Below are details from political party manifestoes that have to do with housing in Ghana.

NPP Housing Plan

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) is currently the governing party in Ghana and the first on the ballot box. The NPP’s manifesto touched on renting, low-income housing, mid-income housing and home financing. You can download the entire NPP manifesto to find out more.

In the second term of the NPP Government, there will be a greater emphasis on housing delivery through the following initiatives:

Renting: To address the short-to-medium term market failures in the renter-segment of the housing market, the next NPP Government will establish a National Rental Assistance Scheme (NRAS).

In partnership with the private sector, the Scheme will provide low-interest loans to eligible Ghanaians to enable them pay rent advance. These loans will be repaid on a monthly basis to match the tenor of the rent, and will be insured to ensure sustainability. Government will seed the Scheme with GH¢100 million which will be leveraged to crowd in additional investment from the private sector. The Scheme will target individuals (both in the formal and informal sectors) with identifiable and regular income. The rent advance loans will be paid directly into the bank accounts of landlords, who would have to register with the Scheme.

As part of our interventions, we will implement the necessary regulatory, institutional, and operational reforms of the Rent Control Department, including the digitisation of their operations, to enhance delivery, and make it better able to serve the changing needs of market players, including landlords and tenants. A new Rent Control Act has been drafted for review by Cabinet in this direction.

Low Income Housing: Our housing deficit is particularly acute for low-income households. We will address this segment of the market by building low-income housing estates over the next four years, using local materials by working with the Building and Roads Research Institute and private developers. Land banks have been secured for this purpose, and the houses will be available for rent, rent-to-own, or outright purchase.

Middle-Income Housing Under an accelerated “National Housing Programme”, the number of housing units, currently being delivered annually nationwide by both the private and public sectors, will be increased threefold. The NPP Government will set up two anchor institutions: a Ghana Housing Authority (GHA), and a National Housing and Mortgage Finance Company (NHMF), working together but with different roles to drive the housing delivery process. The Ghana Housing Authority (GHA) will improve the legal and regulatory framework, create land banks, provide infrastructure, and standardise houses. The NHMF will establish financial arrangements for the demand and supply-side housing markets by managing the Mortgage and Housing Fund set up in the 2019 Budget, provide incentives to enable the private sector build communities/housing units, and create jobs in the process across all MMDAs in the country. Houses will be available to Government employees or other formal sector workers as well as the informal sector.

We will also:

expand the capacity of State Housing Company Limited (SHC) to lead government’s efforts, along with the private sector, to build a large pool of affordable homes for Ghanaian workers and families.

Create Land Banks and provide Infrastructure in partnership with Landowners and District Assemblies. The serviced plots will be managed by Ghana Housing Authority to reduce the problems faced by individuals and real estate developers during the land acquisition process.

Promote and Sponsor Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) as a vehicle to encourage rent-to-own schemes, private sector mortgage finance companies and mortgage-backed securities.

Review the Home Mortgage Finance Act, 2008 (Act 770) to ensure that foreclosure processes are simplified.

Implement more rigorously the tax-deductible mortgage interest regime.

Amend the law to allow for Pension Funds to invest more than 5% of their portfolio in real estate assets, including pension backed mortgages.

Provide targeted, project-based tax incentives (instead of blanket incentives) for private developers to build more social housing, as well as inner-city redevelopment and revitalisation schemes.

Promote setting up of an integrated local manufacturing industry to support the housing sector through tax incentives, creation of markets as well as tax rebates on some imported materials among others.

READ ALSO: Rent an Apartment in Ghana

NDC Manifesto on Housing

The National Democratic Congress(NDC) is one of the two largest political parties in Ghana. They have plans for the housing sector in Ghana should they be elected into office. Below are highlights from their manifesto which is dubbed the People’s Manifesto.

The next NDC Government will, over a four (4) year period, roll out an aggressive social housing plan to deliver a minimum of twenty thousand (20,000) low-income houses in all 260 Metropolises, Municipalities and Districts. We will also implement a National Mortgage Assistance Scheme and rent-to-pay agreements over fifteen to twenty years for public sector workers and workers in private employment.

The Social Housing projects will be constructed in all districts of the country. MMDA’s will work with traditional authorities to acquire lands for the project. A number of the units will be allocated to the traditional authorities to compensate them for the value of land acquired. As much as practicable, all materials for the housing project will be sourced locally. Companies contracted to work on these houses will be indigenous Ghanaian-owned companies doing business in the districts where the projects are located. Workers will be drawn from the local community and training will be provided for these workers.

The next NDC Government will also:

1. be consistent with our 2016 Manifesto promise, establish a low-interest Rent Advance Scheme in partnership with financial institutions/banks holding for both formal and informal sector workers with regular incomes; and
2. establish a regulatory body to set and enforce standards management, quality control and capacity development in the built environment.

Land: Access to land for business, farming and residential purposes is cumbersome, expensive, and time-consuming. This is also a major source of conflict across the country. However, these problems were being steadily addressed within a National Land Policy framework and a 25-year Land Administration Project (LAP). The NPP Government suspended the LAP and dissolved the Project Co-ordinating Unit preferring to execute the project through a PPP vehicle rather than the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources. It has failed to develop any PPP framework resulting in a setback over the past four years. The next NDC Government will work to end the crisis of access and cost of securing affordable land for residential or business purposes.

We will:

1. review the principles underlying the LAP in collaboration with our development partners and restructure it to make it more responsive to national needs;
2. develop a comprehensive policy to make land acquisition simple, less cumbersome, investor-friendly and affordable to the average Ghanaian;
3. decentralise land management services as required by the Lands Commission Act;
4. develop a Land for Wealth policy for the youth and vulnerable groups to make land relatively cheap and accessible for their economic activities and wealth creation.

GFT Manifesto

The GFT Manifesto was spotted on a flyer which can be seen below. There was no mention of housing or real estate in Ghana so we are not certain what the party has for us in relation to housing in Ghana. Since we only have a flyer to refer to, we shall leave that below for your reading pleasure without writing more on it as the closest we have come to material that represents their manifesto.

LPG Manifesto

The Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG) is contesting in this election for the first time. They have a detailed manifesto which touches on housing and free accommodation for all Ghanaians. Below is an excerpt from the manifesto.

Provision of Affordable Housing Accommodation Nationwide: In partnership with the private sector, provide affordable rental accommodation to the homeless and those living in slums. Single and double rooms with bathrooms and kitchens will be made available nationwide where tenants will be asked to pay a small monthly deposit and rent.

We will complete all the capital projects started by the previous NPP and current NDC governments including the affordable housing. NB: We will not sell the affordable house but instead rent out to Ghanaians. We will invest GHc13.0 billion every year in the power ministry to increase energy generation. We will invest GHc10.5 billion each year on roads. We will invest GHc12.5 billion each year on affordable housing projects.

READ ALSO: Ghana Real Estate Bill

PPP Housing Policy

The housing policies of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) can be found in the PPP manifesto for 2020. Below is what the PPP have to say about housing in Ghana.

Related to jobs will be an effective pension and housing scheme. We will task SSNIT to build A NEW HOPE FOR GHANA affordable houses across the country to reduce the housing deficit. All pensioners will be entitled to swap a portion of their pension contributions to fully pay for housing units built by SSNIT so that pensioners can be guaranteed a home during pension that commensurate their income level.

This project that we will task SSNIT to embark upon will create millions of jobs in the housing and construction sub-sector alone for the youth.

READ ALSO: Ghana’s Rising Housing Deficit: meQasa To The Rescue

Some of the political parties could not be featured within this list because we could not find their manifestos online. As we stated in the beginning, some political parties running for the presidency do not have websites we could find, and so, we could not find any downloadable manifestos. Let us know in the comments what you think about the manifestos in relation to the housing policies in Ghana. Which one or ones inspire you the most?