Abstract:
The supply of housing in Ghana is seen to be lacking behind demand due to
the increasing number of population, especially in urban areas. This has caused
many Ghanaians in the low and middle-income groups to resort to the rental sector
for their housing needs. This study seeks to assess rental housing delivery in Abeka
and specifically aims at Identifying the types of rental houses in the study area,
analyse the factors that influence the rental prices, examine the challenges faced by
the tenants in the study area about rental housing, assess the role of stakeholder in
providing rental accommodation as well as assessing the effect of price of
accommodation on rental decision making. The study was conducted in Abeka, a
suburb in the Accra Metropolitan Assembly using an explanatory research design
and the mixed method approach. The study used 264 tenant respondents, 12
landlords/landladies and 2 officials, each from the Ministry of Water Resource
Works and Housing and Rent Control Department and 2 rent agents. Data was
collected using questionnaires and analysed using descriptive and inferential
statistics and interviews were grouped into themes. The study found that income,
number of rooms, population and location play important roles to influence rental
prices which has an effect on rental decisions. Furthermore, the study pointed out
that the rental housing sector is characterised by challenges such as poor housing
quality, rent affordability, limited access to services and facilities, poor
maintenance, crowed and overcrowded living conditions that puts much burden on
renters. Also, roles of stakeholders are not fully carried out due to some challenges
they face. Therefore, the study recommends that government gets involved in the
rental housing delivery sector and make contributions so as to improve the living
conditions of renters in the sector.
