People like housing agents, Eugene Koomson, have been accused of taking advantage of the country’s housing deficit to make money.

Like many, he charges ¢50 per day to show people around houses.

And when his clients find a place, he takes ten per cent of the money a property owner takes.

“My work is significant. Without me, many people won’t get a place to stay. Some people look at me and say, this small thing you did for me, you are taking ¢50, and then I laugh,” he says. 

Housing agencies are largely unregulated in Ghana, leaving many people searching for houses at the mercy of their high and fluctuating charges.

Rent charges are a part of a myriad of problems in the country’s housing sector.

“Some Akans say their wealth is cocoa, but when you come to Accra, people here say their wealth is their house because in Accra, getting a house is expensive,” Koomson says.

Peace Bomaasan has just landed a job in Accra. She used to live in Wa, the capital of the Upper West region.

She says she was paying a tenth of the money she is being asked to pay here when she was there.

“It is a real hustle, almost every day; I have to be out there meeting agents. There is some moving fee; some call it viewing fee; taking you to the place, you have to pay some money.

“If you should consider the work you do and other things you will be doing and having to pay this huge amount of money for rent, it is just so unbelievable,” she laments.

Peace is not alone; with the housing deficit of 1.2 million, thousands of other people like her are out there struggling for a roof over their heads.

The 2021 JoyNews Ecobank Habitat Fair, mini-clinic at which will be held on Saturday, September 11 seeks to address some of these challenges.

Ahead of the event, some exhibitors are pledging mortgage, promotions and proposing policies that may go a long way to resolve the rent problems.

Visit the mini-clinic at the Achimota Mall on Saturday and Sunday and visit the stands for more solutions.