Accra, Sept. 3, GNA – The National Homeownership Fund (NHF) is in discussion with Financial Institutions to develop a National Database of
prospective homeowners to guide investment in the housing space.
The Database will also inform both the government and private sector, including developers and financial institutions, on the number of citizens
who need houses within a specific location and the type of houses needed, together with the source of their incomes.
Mr Prosper Hoetu, the Chief Executive Officer of NHF, said this during a maiden stakeholders engagement on the affordable housing financing
programme in Accra.
The maiden edition was with key financial institutions such as GCB Bank, ABSA Bank, Ecobank, Republic Bank, Stanbic Bank, and Apex Bank,
among others.
He said collectively, the institutions should help address the housing problem and achieve the vision of President John Mahama by providing
affordable housing to Ghanaians so that they could have decent places to live as citizens.
He said these institutions were very key partners in providing financing options for affordable housing, addressing both demand and supply side
challenges.
The CEO stated that, in terms of the demand side, Ghana has a housing deficit of 1.8 million units that needed to be addressed.
He said as a government-backed fund, the Fund was working with the financial institutions to see how they could expand access to financial
products such as mortgages and rent-to-own schemes for workers to be able to afford their homes.
Mr Hoetu said currently, about 60 per cent of Ghanaians needed interventions before they could buy houses.
“So, in the absence of financial support by way of mortgages, 60 per cent of Ghanaians cannot afford a home because their properties are priced at
very high rates, and they do not have the means to be able to buy them,” he added.
He commended the banks for quickly responding positively by sharing their ideas with them as to how they could collaborate with the Fund to be
able to design these products to give workers cheaper mortgages to be able to afford their homes.
The CEO said once the Fund was able to agree on the pricing and identify developers who would be interested in developing such affordable
houses, while the banks would be able to partner with them to advance facilities to the developers to build these houses.
Additionally, he said they were thinking of homeownership education, which was critical because many Ghanaians were unaware of these financial products available on the market.
“And the banks have also responded positively that they can partner with NHF in promoting education on various products on the market,” he said.
He said there were a lot of misconceptions about mortgages, and people think that it was a trap because of some of the experiences in the past.
“But we think that if we are able to educate more people about mortgages and what they require to acquire these mortgages, then people will be
more enlightened and encouraged to take up these facilities,” he added.
He urged workers through their education, engagement and advocacy to take advantage of the programme, reasons being that housing was a
fundamental right, and it was one of the basic needs of man, after food and clothing.
He encouraged stakeholders, financial institutions, labour unions and other real estate developers to support the Fund in achieving the government
programme of affordable housing because collectively we have a role to play in addressing this situation.
Mr Hoetu said that once they could provide adequate and decent housing for people, the cost of rent should go down because there were already
serious concerns about the cost of rent.
