A memorandum on the review of rent laws in the country will soon be sent to Cabinet for consideration and approval.
After approval of the Memo by the Cabinet, it would be laid before Parliament for final approval. Some aspects of the current rent laws (Rent Act, 1963 and the Rent Control, 1986) need to be amended to inject stability into the country’s rent control administration.
The Head of the Public Relations Unit of the Rent Control Department (RCD), Mr Emmanuel Hovey Kporsu, who disclosed this to the press in Accra, said the new rent policy when approved is expected to mandatory establish a District Rent Office in every district in the country to register and license housing rental agents who operate in the area.
He said the new rent policy would set a minimum rent advance payment from one to six months and a maximum rent advance payment from one month to one year, adding that the new policy has succinctly spelt out punishments for landlords who would breach the law.
According to Mr Kporsu, the RCD would soon commence the implementation of the National Rental Assistance Scheme, a government Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) initiative, which is meant to assist Ghanaians to pay their rent advance in a form of a loan and later deducted from the accounts of the beneficiaries monthly.
He said the government was expected to pay an amount of GH¢100 million as seed money to commence the programme, adding that discussions were ongoing for the roll-out of the initiative.
He, therefore, called on all private institutions and individuals who wish to partner with the government in that regard to contact the Minister of Works and Housing or the RCD for further information.
He hinted the RCD was in discussions with the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation (MoCD) as well as the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Centre (KAIPTC) to digitise its operations.
On the problems between the landlords and tenants, he said, the RCD received 112,603 cases from January 2016 to the end of the first half of 2021.
He said 86,453 out of these cases, representing 76.78% were settled by the Department amicably while 4,864 cases representing 4.32% were referred to Magistrate Courts in the areas they were recorded for redress.
Public Relations Unit, Ministry of Works and Housing.
