Rip-Off As Landlords & Landladies Charge High Rent Fees

Investigations conducted by Today within the house to rent market in Ghana point to an increasing rate of turf-war between tenants on one hand and landlords and landladies on the other hand over exorbitant fees charged by the latter. These high rent fees, the paper gathered, were being charged at the blind side of the Rent Control Department, the agency under the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing (MWRWH) that deals with house renting matters. Today�s findings revealed that many landlords and landladies have taken advantage of the recent increment in cement prices and utility tariffs to increase the rent fees of their rooms drastically, a situation which is generating intense tension in most cities of the country. Today observed that the alarming situation has made foreigners and even middle class Ghanaians to struggle to get their foot on the property ladder, as landlords and landladies are taking advantage of a system without an efficient rent control agency in the country. This paper established that uncompleted homes go for a fortune, as foreigners prize Ghanaians out of the market, a practice which is accounting for accommodation shortages. Today further discovered that modest houses in some parts of Accra were becoming increasingly unaffordable, on a price-to-income ratio. And that since a lot of Ghanaians cannot afford to buy houses; the only option for them is to rent which is also very expensive. So far, Today gathered that the demand for a chamber-and-a-hall self-contained facility, as well as a two-bedroom house facility, mostly patronised by the middle class, was very high, especially with the presence of foreign nationals from Lebanon, Niger, Burkina Faso, Togo, Nigeria and Ivory Coast also competing for such facilities. In the Accra metropolis, for instance, rent fees were very high in places like Dansoman, Osu, Labone Kwashieman, Bubuashie, McCarthy Hill, Mataheko, Abeka-Lapaz, West-East Legon, Achimota Village, Haatso and Spintex. Currently, the standard rent fee for the aforementioned houses was between GH�180 and GH�250 while others were in the range of GH�280 and GH�350 per month. With such rent charges, Today learnt that the minimum requirement from landlords and landladies was an advanced payment for at least two or three years. Our investigations further showed that the rent fee of a chamber-and-a-hall and single room facilities which were highly patronised by people who fall within the lower class bracket had also gone up. A month rent fee for a chamber-and-a-hall facility in Accra now costs between GH�100 and GH�120 while a single room costs between GH�60 and GH�80 for a two-year period depending on the location. In Kumasi and Takoradi, rent charges hovered around GH�55 and GH�70 for the above facilities. In the last couple of months under the watch of President Dramani Mahama cement prices have skyrocketed with a retail price of between GH�350 and GH�340. The shortage had been attributed to power outages, irregular and inadequate raw materials for production of cement. Recently the immediate past Minister of Trade and Industry, Haruna Iddrisu, answering questions from parliamentarians gave assurance to the effect that the supply gap would be addressed, assuring the Parliament that his outfit would continue to dialogue. He also urged the power suppliers to deliver to meet the requirements of manufacturing companies. Despite calls by Members of Parliament (MPs) for government to lobby investors to establish new cement companies, the minister said the various mechanisms put in place by the manufacturers, especially Ghana Cement (GHACEM,) would boost supply. According to him, GHACEM plans to increase production by September 2014. However, checks by Today in some parts of the country revealed that the demand for building materials presently far outweighed that of the supply, with some dealers and distributors having no option than to increase the price. A 50-kilogramme bag of cement to accredited distributors was supposed to be sold at GH�350 for GHACEM and Diamond Cement Ghana Limited respectively. But the shortage has given room for dealers to increase the price. Four companies produce cement in Ghana. These are GHACEM, which controls over 80 per cent of the market, Diamond Cement at Aflao, which controls about 20 per cent of the market, Greenview International Company, which imports finished cement for bagging and Savannah Diamond Cement Limited at Buipe which is yet to begin operations.