The Rent Control Department has received about 100 applications from students over private hostel charges and is set to assess the fees before the reopening of schools.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Wednesday, August 19, Acting Rent Commissioner Frederick Opoku said the applications had triggered the department’s intervention, with rent control officers across the country expected to assess the hostels and determine the applicable charges under the law.

“As we speak today, let me announce to you that I received 100 applications,” Mr Opoku said.

He said the applications would be dealt with within the next two to three months.

“They are all going to be assessed within the next three months, two months before school reopens,” he said.

Mr Opoku said the department was prepared to apply the Rent Act to private hostels despite resistance from some operators who argue that their charges reflect their investments and market conditions.

“The law has been invoked by the students. Rent control officers across the country are going to assess them.”

He insisted that private hostel operators cannot determine their charges entirely on their own because they remain subject to the country’s rent laws.

“We are going to set how much they will charge in this country,” he said.

Explaining how the department intends to determine the appropriate charges, Mr Opoku said the assessment would follow factors already set out in the Rent Act.

He said the process was different from valuing a property for sale and would consider the circumstances surrounding the rental property.

“According to the Rent Act, the Rent Act has spelled out the things and the factors you take into consideration in assessing,” he said.

He identified the land on which the property is located, applicable rates, maintenance costs and the amount invested in maintaining the property, as well as interest on borrowed funds, among the factors to be considered.

“Number one, the land on which the property is situated is one. Number two, the rates that you may pay. Number three, the maintenance cost and how much you have invested in maintaining. Number four, the interest rate of borrowing.”

Mr Opoku said the assessment would not necessarily mean that hostel operators would be forced to reduce their current charges.

“I can tell you for sure that rent control can do an assessment and even what they are charging may be less,” he said.

He therefore dismissed arguments that operators should be allowed to charge whatever they consider necessary because they have invested heavily in their businesses.

“It is not about whether they went for money and they are losing. It’s about the law, and it must be applied,” he said.

Mr Opoku also questioned why hostel operators who believe their charges are justified have not applied to the Rent Control Department for assessment.

“If they want to be honest with themselves, why are they running away from even making an application to be assessed?” he asked.

He said operators could make applications themselves and allow the appropriate authorities to determine whether their charges comply with the law.

“Why haven’t they made an application, and are they running away? That is the question,” he said.

The Acting Rent Commissioner also rejected claims that private hostels cannot be regulated because they are licensed by the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA).

He said the GTA and the Rent Control Department have different responsibilities, with the former responsible for licensing and standards while rent regulation remains within the mandate of the Rent Control Department.

“The Ghana Tourism Authority limit is about licensing and monitoring how they keep the place nice, under a standard,” Mr Opoku said.

“But as to how much they charge is within the parameter, is within the limit of rent control.”

He said private hostel operators should not interpret their GTA licences as an exemption from the Rent Act.

“The fact that GTA licenses them does not tell them that they are not under the framework of the rent laws of Ghana,” he said.