ASSESSING RENTAL HOUSING DELIVERY IN GHANA. THE CASE OF ABEKA, A SUBURB OF ACCRA METROPOLITAN ASSEMBLY

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.