Nana Akufo-Addo's Speech To GREDA - Hostels

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Category: Special Reports

Created on Tuesday, 23 October 2012 00:00

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We shall promote and institute the building of hostels for the most vulnerable, like the “Kayaye”, who currently sleep on the streets.

These hostels will be run in conjunction with the skills training organizations so that residents will be obliged to undergo skills training and by the time they leave a hostel, they would be qualified to be independent. No one will stay in a hostel longer than a maximum of four years.

Rents collected shall go into a revolving fund at the district level for the maintenance and expansion of the housing stock.

We are proposing the following specific strategies for the promotion of a rapid increase in the stock of rental buildings:

1. Government will provide serviced plots to private developers who participate in their social housing program.

2. Government will provide duty and tax exemptions on imported building materials used in social housing in the short term.

3. Corporate Tax exemptions to private sector who provide low income rental housing

4. Government through district assemblies will support community led initiatives to provide housing through provision of land, funding, building materials and technical support.

5. Provide government guarantees through local banks for housing cooperative societies and NGO’s involved in housing and

6. Provide loan guarantees to private sector for slum upgrading and inner city revitalization projects, aimed at providing rental units and increasing housing densities. Land will be used as collateral for borrowing

But above these specific initiatives, I wish to challenge members of GREDA and other estate developers to turn their minds to the provision of rental housing. I do not think it is beyond your ingenuity to find profitable ways of resolving this problem. You cannot hope to limit your activities only to those who can and want to buy their homes. You could, for example, think along the lines of finding a formula that makes a developer provide a certain number of rental units for a set number of ownership numbers and you get tax incentives as a result.

I hope to hear from you urgently on this.

The last element of our plan deals with rural housing. The biggest challenge here is more of quality than quantity. I shall be encouraging our architects to come up with a variety of designs that will be suitable for rural areas and help transform the rural landscape. We will work through cooperatives and local trade associations to ensure that technical assistance is available to support qualitative improvements in rural housing through the active support and participation of the private sector, research institutions and district assemblies. The planning offices of the district assemblies will extend their work to the rural areas as they are expected to do.

I am informed that real estate developers’ contribution to annual output is about 10% of the estimated 40,000 units delivered annually. That really is a minute proportion. I know that progress in the sector has been hampered by administrative bottlenecks and lack of government support. Then, there are the constraints such as lack of financing, land litigation, high land costs, high cost of building materials, poor infrastructure, lack of a clear industry legal policy and regulatory framework.

And yet there are examples to show that it is possible for local developers to play a key role in providing housing for Ghanaians. The GREDA Teshie-Nungua Estates in Accra is a good example of such a public-private-partnership working for the public good. Under this arrangement, land was secured by SSNIT, financing was provided by the defunct Bank for Housing and Construction. This 3 party arrangement, supported by other building material suppliers, such as GHACEM, made it possible for developers to mobilize other resources to deliver housing units for middle class working families.

Government will support similar models, which will facilitate strong collaboration between land agencies, family/stools/skins, banks, insurance companies, mortgage houses, building material suppliers and real estate developers. I strongly believe that given the right support and assistance, you will be able to help us achieve our goal.

We intend to deal with the perennial housing financing problem through the issuing of Government backed Housing Bonds, and create the avenue for private capital and pension funds to channel their long-term funds into the “Housing Fund”, which will provide funds to support the private sector. We believe that this program will enable us raise over GHC 1billion annually over the next four years for our social and public housing programs.

A vigorous construction industry will create thousands of highly skilled jobs in carpentry, joinery, masonry, plumbing, electrical, metal workers and other construction industry related jobs. We will establish linkages with industry to ensure that students under the Vocational training programme, receive practical training during their period of study. Companies that support this program by accepting students on attachment will be entitled to some tax breaks and I would encourage all GREDA members to support this program.

New housing projects will spawn the creation of new local building material industries to produce materials such as cement blocks, bricks, door locks, louver blades, roofing sheets, light steel frames, reinforcement bars, floor tiles, toilet bowls, doors etc. which will lead to the further creation of thousand of jobs for our youth.

We shall also vigorously promote initiatives like the Collateral Replacement Indemnity Program (CRIP), under which insurance companies will be encouraged to underwrite the down-payment portion of a mortgage, particularly for first-time home-buyers. Premiums will be included in the monthly mortgage payment. Our research has shown that the initial 20%-30% down-payment required by mortgage companies and banks, as a pre-requisite for disbursing mortgages, is usually a major obstacle for most applicants in taking a mortgage to purchase a home. A proportion of pension funds and SSNIT contributions will be made available to workers for use as a down-payment to secure a mortgage. Under this arrangement, thousands of Ghanaians will be able to purchase a home.

Let me now address the issue of affordability. There is no point in coming out with these programmes if they turn out to be out of the reach of the majority of people. The housing problem we have, affects mostly those who are starting their working lives and do not have spare cash. Affordability is a long- term fix.

I believe that the policy options I have outlined, will address the structural issues that impinge on affordability making it possible for developers to build houses more cheaply. We will encourage the standardization of designs for both rural and public housing, leading to efficiency and lower construction costs.

Companies that partner with the housing agency and participate in our social housing projects and certain types of public housing projects will benefit from exemptions in duties and taxes on imported building materials. In the medium term, through our program of industrialization, we will promote the setting up of local building material producing industries to produce many of the materials locally thereby making the houses more affordable.

Finding a solution to the housing problem will help to resolve many other significant problems. There are many industries that will spring up to support the construction programmes, this will lead the creation of many highly skilled and well paying jobs across various sectors of the economy. Through various incentives, we would encourage developers to build houses in less financially attractive areas for our teachers and nurses to support the health and education sectors.

To make sure that we find long lasting solutions we shall tackle the housing deficit problem within the broader framework of other legislative and institutional reforms. We will promulgate the National Housing Policy and Urban Plan, Land Use and Spatial Planning Bill to harmonize all spatial planning laws in Ghana.

We are also committed to completing the restructuring of the Land Title Registration and the Land Administration Projects to improve efficiency in land administration. We will ensure that this important national project is completed within the shortest possible time.

Finally, Ladies and Gentlemen, we will complete the 6000 units of affordable housing started under the Kufuor regime. If one wanted an example of the spiteful attitude that the NDC brought to government, there is no better example than the abandonment of this project simply because it was started by an NPP government. They have had four years, they have not added a single housing unit, they have denied 6000 Ghanaian families the right to live in well-constructed houses.

I have taken the time to set out in specific detail our policy proposals, in order to offer Ghanaians a clear choice.

Vote for me, Nana Akufo Addo as President and I lead an efficient team to transform the housing industry in Ghana, create more jobs and improve the living conditions and accommodation challenges of Ghanaians.

It is time to rid this nation of this do-nothing, insensitive government. They did not come to do anything, they have not done anything, they are not capable of doing anything; lets be rid of them, lets vote for the NPP and move Ghana forward.

Thank you, God bless you, God bless Ghana.

Source: Communications Directorate, NPP/ Ghana

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