The Management of the Rent Control Department is calling for urgent amendments to Ghana’s outdated Rent Act, describing it as woefully inadequate in addressing the country’s current housing crisis.
According to the department, skyrocketing rent prices, limited access to affordable housing, and weak regulatory enforcement have left many tenants at the mercy of landlords, fuelling tensions across the rental sector.
Speaking on Morning Starr with Joshua Kodjo Mensah on Wednesday, June 25, Chief Rent Manager Twum Ampofo stressed that the Rent Act, which is over 50 years old, no longer reflects the realities of Ghana’s growing population and housing demands.
“The rent act is over-aged we are working with an act of about 50 years plus and you know the modalities and the other strategy of renting have just changed since we are developing,” he explained.
Mr. Ampofo highlighted that rapid urbanisation and increased migration have significantly heightened the demand for housing, creating a competitive rental market that landlords are exploiting.
READ: Save lives, don’t drop bombs – Mahama urges world leaders at Gavi summit
“At first, the number of the population are very few, for now urban migration and the other foreign incoming are adding up and therefore the demand of the existing premises have been so high and those tenants renting it to us who have been sold so there’s a competition now between the tenants so landlords have taken advantage on that demanding what even you said the law should protect,” he stated.
The Rent Control Department believes amending the Rent Act is the only way to curb exploitation, promote fairness, and ensure decent housing for all.
Many Ghanaians, especially young people and low-income earners, have long appealed to government and Parliament to intervene and review the Rent Act to reflect modern housing realities.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/Hamdia Mohammed
