Housing Finance in Ghana

Overview

This profile is also available in French here.

To download a pdf version of the full 2023 Ghana country profile, click here.

Solutions for more affordable housing options for urban dwellers continue to be a challenge for the Ghanaian government. Despite this, Ghana’s housing deficit witnessed a 33% reduction from 2.8 million (2010) to 1.8 million (2021), partly attributable to the real estate boom and a 72.8% increase in residential structures within the period. Ghana has an existing national bond market called the Fixed Income Market (GFIM), where the government of Ghana and other quasi-government and corporate money market instruments are listed and traded.

In response to the affordable housing challenge, various organisations have made concerted efforts to increase the national housing stock. As a result, the government has committed to completing existing housing projects and undertaking new ones across the country. However, the unaffordability of housing finance is exacerbated by weakened consumer sentiments resulting from the persistent increases in fuel prices, increases in transportation fares, and rising inflation, which all undoubtedly contribute to the rise in housing prices.

A majority of housing stock is sourced from the informal economy, mainly through incremental construction. Most housing in Ghana is owner-occupied, especially in rural regions, with the highest share in the Northeast (90%). Generally, such properties lack market-related property rights, are less investible, and aren’t built with housing services. The rental housing market, on the other hand, has an urban character. Greater Accra has the highest proportion of households that rent units (48%).

Urban areas are characterised by land tenure insecurity, high transaction costs, convoluted property rights, and weak institutional oversight. In terms of investment opportunities, Ghana secured a US$75 million (GH604 074 572) commercial loan from the African Development Bank in October 2021 for the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) to improve the financing and development climate, including affordable housing, in Ghana. Green building requirements are specified in the Ghana Building Code (GS 1207:2018). IFC and Ghana Venture Capital Trust provide green housing finance and microfinance.

Find out more information on the housing finance sector of Ghana, including key stakeholders, important policies and housing affordability:


Each year, CAHF publishes its Housing Finance in Africa Yearbook. The profile above is from the 2023 edition, which has up-to-date profiles for 55 African countries.

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