Prof. Peter Quartey
The Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER) has called for an urgent reclassification of the government’s affordable housing initiatives to address the recent challenges faced by a significant part of the population, particularly the average Ghanaian worker, in affording decent accommodation.
Speaking at the Institute’s Ghana Social Development Outlook (GSDO 2022) launch, a bi-annual report, held in Accra, ISSER Director, Prof. Peter Quartey, emphasized the need to focus on low-income earners and construct affordable housing units tailored to their needs.
“To effectively address ever growing demand, combat the prevailing housing deficit crises, and make public housing project truly affordable for those who need them most, we have to reclassify” he urged.
He maintained that the current definition of affordable housing has been outdated and fails to reflect the economic realities of today’s society, hence the need to breakdown the terms by reclassifying projects to fit the social class specifics.
“We have to perhaps redefine the word affordable housing, because the poor who needs these housing unit and are on the street do not get access to them as they are beyond their means. What we have designed so far is for the rich and middle income brackets” he stressed.
He, therefore, urged the government to provide affordable housing unit to the poor, especially because it is the poor and needy that are living on the street and living in slums or in unhygienic conditions.
For that reason, he proposed the establishment of single-bedroom and chamber-and-hall facilities as viable options within the means of the low-income population.
“All we have these days are the high-earned facilities and we find quite a number of such houses dotted in the prime areas such as East Legon. We can continue putting up such structures but we need to concentrate on the low-income earners as well,” he stated.
“If we want to improve or enhance housing for the poor then we need to target that sector of the economy. Let’s construct units that are affordable. We can look at more of the single bedrooms, chamber and hall facilities. Those are the sorts of houses they can afford,” he added.
By Nafisatu Abdul Razak