Mr. Fred Tawiah, principal rent officer for the Greater Accra Region has called on the government to help ease the accommodation problems of Ghanaians by providing affordable housing for civil servants. Mr. Tawiah was hosted by Joy FM’s Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah on the Super Morning Show Tuesday morning to discuss the problems plaguing tenants in the country. Mr. Tawiah said the inadequate supply of houses to the Ghanaian population is worrying as his outfit is faced with numerous conflicts between tenants and homeowners. He said “we know by statistics that the supply of accommodation as far as the government is concerned is a little bit behind and that is what is creating the problem… My view is that government knows the number, of lets say, civil servants on its payroll and if steps could be taken, another bold step, as was done with the STX, civil servants could be adequately accommodated.” Mr. Tawiah was of the view that one of the main problems with rent in Ghana is in respect of the payment of rent advance. He said his outfit is aware of the high rent charged by landlords in the country which he insist is in direct contravention of the law. The law permits landlords to charge a maximum of six months advance and a minimum of one month. “We all know landlords practice this law in breach, taking between one, two or even three years advance and that is the headache so many tenants and the rent control office as well.” But Mr. Tawiah added that his outfit does not have the muscle to ensure the strict adherence of the rent control laws because even after ensuring that landlords stay within the confines of the law, there is no guarantee that the landlord will not eject the tenant who would then have to search for a new place. He however pointed out that this problem can be averted “if we could also have a legislation that would make it mandatory that every tenancy should be for at least a period of two years irrespective of the amount of rent you pay in advance.” On the unavailability of basic amenities in some homes, Mr. Tawiah further said even though the Rent Control Act does not state that landlords should have all basic amenities before renting a home, landlords are enjoined by a mutual understanding to provide such basic amenities before renting their facilities. He said most homes in Ghana lack these basic amenities and such a situation should be central to the responsibilities of the city authorities. “The problem also that we have noticed is that in certain houses, there is even no space to sink the manhole let alone build a toilet,” he lamented. He asked if the city authorities have adequate monitoring measures to check private builders and estate developers who fail to follow such procedures when building homes. Mr. Tawiah therefore called on city authorities to also check the situation where tenants line up to visit the lavatory or bath house. Mr. Patrick Addy, a real estate manager who was on the programme explained that sometimes these landlords try to protect their investment in order to make some financial gains. He said tenants can be blamed for some of the discrepancies: “Most landlords go for loans…they want to be able to pay for these loans; they want to be able to make profit once the put up these properties. So sometimes they charge [so high] because they realize that we need to make some profits and that’s one of the problems.” Mr. Addy explained that it is not the best for landlords to rent out their uncompleted buildings but when these landlords are cash strapped, it becomes the most viable option which sometimes breeds animosity between the tenant who completed the building and the homeowner. He said investment opportunities in Ghana are limited and that if people are going for homes they need to understand the risk before making such a move. Story by Derick Romeo Adogla/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana