Principal architect at Incept Architectural Consult, Cecil Abbey has advised prospective homeowners to “start small” when aiming for their dream estate.

“You don’t necessarily need a furnished house when you are starting,” he stated, adding you first need a mindset that it is possible. You then have to look at it in small portions. When you are thinking about property, you don’t think about your dream house right from the start.”

He pointed out that owning property was very daunting and the first step to owning one should be a positive mindset.

“You have to think small and start growing from there. It’s a ladder and you have to think about climbing it one step at a time and eventually, you will end up at the top,” he said.

The housing expert was speaking on Springboard on Joy FM where he argued that the housing deficit in Ghana is more than two million, as estimated by the Works and Housing Minister, Samuel Atta Akyea.

“The figure should have been more than two million.

“From the early 2000s up to now, we started from around 100,000 and now it is said to be two million but I think it is much higher because there are some demographics that have not been captured,” he stated.

Mr. Abbey pointed out that the situation could pass for a crisis, stating that “imagine two million people don’t have houses to live in, which people are they?

“They could start creating slums, jumping your walls and sleeping in your backyard so it is something that should not be taken lightly,” adding that “real estate developers have to start looking at different innovative ways to provide houses that come at lower costs.”

“Affordable housing in Ghana is about $35,000 to $40, 000,” he noted.

Addressing the cost issue, Sales Manager at Appolonia City, Dansoaa Siaw-Misa said there was a myriad of factors that determined the pricing of houses.

Stating one of such, she said “the builders [sometimes] have to borrow [funds] which adds to the finance cost due to the high interest rates.

“We therefore need to look at alternative ways of reducing the cost of building and some of the ways we can do that is by using locally produced materials, reducing plot sizes, and looking at how we view property.

“Government also has a role to play because interest rates are still very high,” she explained.