Ghana's 1.7 million housing deficit is set to reduce when UT Properties begins a 200 to 600-unit housing project to cater for the affordable housing needs of the country.

Set to begin later this year, the project will be situated at Amasaman, a town in the Ga West Municipal Assembly of the  Greater Accra Region.

These were revealed by Kojo Kwakye Owusu, Managing Director of UT Properties Limited last week.

"We are entering into partnerships with contractors and landowners...to offer houses that will  be between GH¢100, 000 and GH¢150,000”, he revealed.

Under the agreement, UT Properties will ensure construction of the houses meet the best standards while at the same time facilitate the sales and marketing of the project.

He said materials used for the construction would be of high quality, however, finishes and furnishes will not be optimal in order to reduce costs.

According to Kojo Kwakye Owusu, if the project becomes successful, it will be replicated in other parts of the country,

Mr Owusu further revealed there are plans by UT Properties to also put in place high end properties as part of an urban development project.

“This is to fulfill the high end needs of the spectrum of people who also need properties.These will not be affordable houses..“, he said.

UT Properties Limited, a subsidiary of UT Holdings Limited, specalises in real estate development and management. The firm is also into property valuation, property management, property development, property investment and consulting.

“Over the past three years, we have been able to develop Ubuntu Courts which is 118-unit housing estate of two and three bedroom houses set in a gated community  at Oyarifa, which is very successful”, he told journalists in Accra.

He said the project has a reliable and sustainable water supply system with tarred roads and drains, social and commercial centre, 24-hour security, professional management services among other facilities. The project ended last year.

The firm has also started a 300-unit housing unit at Oyafifa, the UT Properties MD revealed. “The price range is from GH₵240,000 to about GH₵350,000 for the dethatched houses. So it falls within what we call the middle income group”, he said.

On a sustainable way of reducing the country's housing deficit, Mr Owusu said he supports calls on government to assist in home acquisition through mortgages, but adds that there is a need to support estate developers too, with ways of purchasing building materials at affordable prices.

Admitting that the cost of building material has shot up with the cedi depreciation, he adviced estate developers in the country to be innovative with their business approach, adding that a sure way of mitigating the spiraling cost of building materials is buy in bulk when prices are low.