According to the Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER) of the University of Ghana (UG), "affordable housing is out of reach for many households."
It said that, among other issues, the predicament may be linked to a lack of access to land, building supplies, financing, and building codes.
Therefore, the institute has urged the government to implement targeted subsidies or housing assistance programmes to help low-income households access affordable housing, adding that what was considered affordable housing was out of reach of low-income earners, who were most affected when it came to issues of accommodation.
This was stated in the institute's Ghana Social Development Outlook (GSDO) 2022 study, which was released last Tuesday in Accra.
Since 2012, the biannual journal has continued to be one of ISSER's major products.
The sixth edition's 10 chapters cover a variety of themes that are connected to one another and were carefully selected by authors from the social division.
Along with other sectors, it touches on areas like housing, employment, energy, the environment, gender, social relations, and population. It also touches on areas like education, health, water, and sanitation.
Incentives
Additionally, as part of the suggestions, ISSER urged the government to support the development of affordable housing choices for various income brackets and to provide incentives for middle- and upper-class individuals to own rental properties for low-income families.
Despite an increase in housing units, Prof. Peter Quartey, Director of ISSER, claimed that the housing crisis could not be solved since "we are increasingly witnessing a greater number of high- and middle-income dwelling units as opposed to the traditional compound houses.
"So in some areas there are houses, but they are not occupied by people, and the East Legon area in Accra, for instance, is noted for many of such houses," he stated.
Prof. Quartey claims that compound dwellings, a bedroom, or a single room to accommodate a family are what the populace needs.
You can see tiny homes with solar panels if you travel to other regions of Africa, such as Cape Town in South Africa.
Not the apartments, but this is something we can describe as inexpensive, he continued.
Prof. Quartey said, "We hope that the government will strengthen its collaboration with academia. The event provided a platform for useful engagement with stakeholders and led conversations about their work, as well as other urgent national and international issues."
population control
The report's presenter, Dr. Martha Awo, Head of the GDSO, noted that population flow needed to be redirected from congested cities to places with lower population densities.
According to her, the Greater Accra Region's dense population, particularly in the cities of Accra, Tema, and Ashaiman, has major consequences for housing, sanitization, managing traffic on the roads, ensuring the safety of the food supply, and maintaining national security.
Dr. Awo said that every nation must first study the dynamics of its population structure and design policies and programmes that address population issues before engaging in any kind of developmental activity.
The surge of young immigrants from the West African area into the nation was also discussed in the paper, which the author claimed had become a source of worry for national security.
She continued, "The Ministry for the Interior, national security agencies, and the Immigration Service should work together to document all of these immigrants in order to determine their status in accordance with the ECOWAS Protocol and take appropriate action to defuse the potential threat their presence poses to national security.
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