The Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama has appealed to real estate developers to reduce their rates to enable Ghanaians in the low income bracket to purchase homes which is the dream of every citizen. He said the current rates of homes built by real estate developers in the country were simply too high for the average Ghanaian. The Vice-President made the appeal in a speech read on his behalf at the launch of the 20th Anniversary Celebration of leading real estate developers, Regimanuel. A Minister of State at the presidency, Mr Nii Afotey Agbo, who read the speech on behalf of the Vice-President, said “housing undoubtedly plays a major role in the overall development of any nation and that is why it has been treated as a top priority since this government came into office.” He enumerated access to land, finance, and the over reliance on imported building materials as some of the challenges the government was aware confront estate developers and gave the assurance that “all these challenges are receiving the highest attention and have been addressed holistically in the National Housing Policy.” According to the Vice-President, the National Housing Policy aims to provide adequate, safe, decent and affordable housing through collaboration with the private sector. “We are in talks with several banks in a bid to getting them to provide affordable mortgages to Ghanaian workers in particular,” he added.