Friday, October 12, 2012

Housing stock increases by 60%

The number of houses in the country increased by 60 percent over a ten-year period to reach nearly 3.4 million at the end of 2010 amidst increasing demand for houses, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has reported. According to the GSS, data gathered from the national population and housing census a couple of years ago indicate that the number of houses in the country currently stands at 3,392,745. However, it has been found that most of the houses do not have toilet facilities -- with the proportion of people using public toilets jumping from 31.4 percent in 2000 to 34.6 percent in 2010. The figure comes at a time the national housing deficit has reportedly widened to reach about 1.5 million, which requires an annual delivery of about 150,000 units for the next 20 years to bridge the gap. The current annual supply is however between 30,000 and 40,000. The GSS figures show that there are more houses in rural communities of the country than in the urban areas, where increasing population growth fuelled by rural-to-urban migration has impacted negatively on the provision of housing services to the people. According to the data, the proportion of houses in rural areas (57.7%) is higher than those in urban areas (42.3%). “The data further show that the stock of houses increased by 60.1 percent compared with the figure recorded in the year 2000. The regional distribution shows that Ashanti (16.9%) has the highest proportion of houses, followed by the Greater Accra (14%) and Eastern (12.7%) Regions. “The Upper West Region has the lowest proportion of the housing stock (2.4%). Compared with the 2000 Census data, there are marked differences in the percentage change in housing stock across regions. The increase is highest in Ashanti (81.9%) and lowest in Upper East (30.4%),” the report said. The Service said in an effort to differentiate between what can be classified as a house, it adopted the UN recommended definition of a house -- which considers a house to be “a structurally separate and independent place of abode, such that a person or group of persons can isolate themselves from the hazards of climate such as storms and the sun”. It said the census found that the population per house is 7.3 and ranges from a low of 5.3 in the Volta Region to a high of 9.6 in the Northern region. “Generally, there was a reduction in the population per house from 8.7 to 7.3 between 2000 and 2010,” it added. Some estate-developers have suggested that government should award more housing contracts to local companies in order to provide housing facilities for the populace. The Business Development Director for Waltech Ghana Limited, a real-estate company, Harold Carboo, recently told that the B&FT that the minimum number of houses needed to built annually to meet demand can be achieved by engaging the services of domestic estate developers. “All major projects are directed to foreign contractors; meanwhile, there are local contractors who are equally up to the task and can even do better when given the chance.” He advised that government should boost the capacity of construction firms which already have the artisans and technology, by awarding major contracts to local constructors instead of foreigners. He noted that though there are a number of developments going on, “They are not enough to meet the demand in the country. In order to meet the demand, we need to change our way of construction.” He said help from the government to empower local contractors has not been forthcoming, and this is not helping the industry to stand on its feet to embark on various projects. B&FT

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