Twelve-point seven per cent of housing units across the 16 regions in Ghana are vacant, 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC) has revealed.
These houses are empty because the cost of renting or owning one is high and above the means of the average Ghanaian.
The Minister for Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye, who disclosed this in Accra at a presentation of the 2021 PHC report, said the vacant housing units was evidence of the growing concern about the number of exclusive high-rise apartments that are out of the price range of the average person in the country.
To mitigate the problem, he said the government has come out with a new housing policy that would reduce the cost of building a house by 40 per cent.
He said the 40 per cent would cover the provision of land, tax exemptions and other social amenities such as electricity and the construction of access roads for private developers.
He said although the 2021 census has revealed that the housing deficit has been reduced by 33 per cent, the new housing policy would reduce it further to the barest minimum.
According to the 2021 census, the national housing deficit is 1.8 million compared to a housing deficit of 2.8 million a decade earlier.
Richard Aniagyei, ISD
