Sixty percent of Ghanaians will need government support in the form of subsidies to acquire their own houses.

According to the Minister of Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye, 35% of Ghanaians cannot be able to acquire their own homes even with the support of government.

He says his government will set up a National Housing Authority to address the housing deficit and other challenges within the space.

Speaking at the launch of the maiden edition of Home Ownership Series organized by First National Bank, Mr Asenso-Boakye said “unfortunately, this is the situation in which we find ourselves as a country. Interventions in the past has been unyielding, resulting in the country struggling with the housing deficit, currently in excess of two million housing units”.

“To address this precarious situation, there is a need for a consented government direction that focuses on bridging current institutional gap to provide mass subsidized housing targeted at the 60% population in the short to medium term and the remaining 35% in the long term as our economic situation improves”, he pointed out.

He explained further that the government recognizes these huge challenges and have pledged to critically look at the general institution architecture that drives the housing sector.

“For this reason, the NPP government plans to set up a national housing authority to lead the supply side of housing market”, he mentioned.

Executive Director in charge of Home Loans at First National Bank, Kojo Addo Kufuor said his outfit is ready to support the development of the home loan scheme.

“The launch of the National Housing and Mortgage Finance Scheme to assist public servants to acquire homes is a significant step in the right direction, especially because it appropriately addresses the provision of home loans in local currency. This is a real game changer”

“First National Bank is proud to have contributed to the design of the scheme and we stand ready to partner government in its implementation form”, he added.