Land acquisition expert Mr. Kwame Gyan has advised potential landowners and prospective buyers to always obtain a building permit before putting up structures.

According to him, this is a process established by law to ensure that no one builds on lands they do not have ownership of.

"There is a national building regulation, LI 16.30. The national building regulation provides elaborate rules on how buildings should look in terms of material composition."

“The national building regulation also provides that before you put up a building in this country, you must have a building permit to construct a building. The national building regulations also outline the final requirements of the permit, stating that it must be an approval, a registered document from the Chief Registrar of Lands," he made these comments during an engagement at the 2023 Ecobank-JoyNews Habitat Fair on Friday.

Mr. Gyan explained that, "You must first obtain a permit before you build, and you will not get a permit unless you have title to the land. In this country, one of our biggest problems is haphazard land development."

His comment was in response to why some structures in Accra had a red inscription mandating the builder to stop and produce a permit.

While potential landowners and property developers have been quick to blame the law as deficient, Kwame Gyan disagreed, saying “It is not the law; it is simply a matter of enforcing the law.”