Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has assured that the newly launched National Rental Assistance Scheme (NRAS) will be run without political interference.
To meet the demands for rent in Ghana, Dr. Bawumia launched the program on Tuesday in Accra.
A private sector company, Rent Masters Ghana Limited, has been hired to run the scheme’s operations.
For qualified applicants, the intervention is anticipated to offer low-interest loans so they can pay their rent in advance.
It is currently estimated that Ghana will have a shortage of approximately 5 million rooms by December 2022, assuming each room has two occupants. And as the population grows and rural-urban migration continues, this deficit is expected to worsen.
Under the scheme, Ghanaians over the age of 18 with a valid national ID card and verifiable employment with an income are eligible for a rent loan in five to ten working days.
There are fears that the newly launched scheme will fail if it only benefits party officials, but speaking at the scheme’s launch, Dr. Bawumia insisted that only qualified individuals will benefit from the initiative.
“So if someone comes and says I am from this party or that party so give me a loan, although I don’t qualify, the private firm will essentially be hurting itself if that person is unable to pay back the loan. There is an inbuilt mechanism to stop political interference in the operationalisation of this scheme, so it is available for every Ghanaian,” he said.
Under this scheme, the government will pay the full rent to landlords on behalf of eligible Ghanaians in both the formal and informal sectors, while tenants reimburse the government through monthly payments.
The Vice President went on to say that the monthly payments would be put back into the pool and used to pay off other people’s rent loans.
“The amount will be paid directly into the landlord’s account who will also have to sign up for the scheme.
Dr. Bawumia also announced that the government has tabled a new Rent Bill before Parliament to replace the existing one which he said has outlived its usefulness.
“Government acting through the Ministry of Works and Housing has submitted to Parliament for consideration and passage, a Rent Bill to replace the existing Rent Act of 1963, Act 220. The current Act was passed by Parliament 59 years ago, and therefore its relevance has been outlived by the current population growth, urbanisation, availability, and housing trends.”
He also stated that efforts are being made to digitalize the Rent Control Department in order to improve the country’s rent system and increase revenue collection.
