President John Mahama has proposed a financing arrangement to help complete thousands of unfinished houses across the country and convert them into rent-to-own homes.

Speaking at the National Conference on Housing Financing in Accra, he said the government could identify uncompleted houses, assess the cost of completing them, and provide financing support to owners who have the capacity to repay.

President Mahama said the idea came from observing the large number of unfinished buildings across the country.

“Anytime we are coming to land, and you see the number of unfinished houses all over, it is just mind-boggling.”

He said the government could identify the unfinished houses in specific areas and engage engineers and architects to determine the cost of completing them.

“Can’t we get a product that allows us to take an area, identify all the uncompleted houses there, get the engineers and the architects to do the bill of quantities, and let us see how much more it would take to complete them?”

According to President Mahama, the financing could target owners who have already invested in the properties but need additional support to complete them.

He proposed that once completed, the beneficiaries could move into the houses and redirect the money they would otherwise spend on rent into a rent-to-own arrangement.

“If we identify these houses, we look at those who are investing in them, look at what their incomes are and all that, and see if we can just give them that push to finish the house and then they move in, and then the rents they are paying elsewhere go to become a rent-to-own scheme.”

President Mahama also suggested that district assemblies could use part of their internally generated funds and Common Fund allocations to invest in rental housing.

He said such a model could provide accommodation for public servants posted to the districts while generating additional revenue for the assemblies.

“It will help to increase their IGFs, and so persons who are posted to the district can get an apartment, two bedrooms to rent, live there and pay the rent to the district assembly.”

The President said the government must explore different financing models to address Ghana’s housing needs.

“We must think outside the box when it comes to these things.”