In Ghana, people are in a dilemma when it comes to deciding if they want to purchase a complete house or build their own. meQasa asked this question to many people and the answers we received varied. A number of them mentioned the stress that comes when seeking a suitable location or acquiring bare land, costs of labour, materials and the landscaping process as some of the reasons they would want to purchase a house that was already built.

Those who preferred building a house mentioned the cost – which is relatively cheaper, building to their own specification and having the knowledge of the kind of materials that go into the construction of their property as some of the reasons they would want to build their own homes. Another argument is the fact that one does not need to pay a huge sum of money but with a regular source of income, they can allocate a sum of money to the project that will not drain their monthly expenditure.

Before building a property, every individual would like to have an estimate of its cost. Jumia House Ghana interviewed Mr Israel Nornyibey, Category Manager of CPL Groups, a real estate development company, to help answer the question: “How much money do I need to build a house?”

A:  “In my estimation, I think you will need about GHS 150,000 to build a decent three-bedroom house without any storey and this basically depends on where you want the property to be or the cost of the land in that neighbourhood.” says Mr Nornyibey

Q: What factors account for the cost of building that property?

A: “The cost of the property depends on the construction materials that are used, the plot of land, the transportation costs and the furnishing costs. This figure does not include landscaping.” says Mr Nornyibey.

The land is the major factor that accounts for the cost of building a property. The price of the property is likely to go up if it is located in a prime area. Mr Nornyibey says, “If the house is situated in a prime area, the cost of the land will be about GHS 30,000.”

With this information, would you like to build your own house or purchase a complete property? Send your answers to our Twitter or Facebook pages.