UN Housing Rapporteur Urges Gov’t to Resource Rent Control, Tackle Rising Rent Pressures

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, Koldo Casla, has urged government to adequately resource the Rent Control Department to strengthen its operations and curb arbitrary rent increases that continue to burden tenants.

In a statement issued at the end of his 12‑day official visit to Ghana and shared with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Mr Casla warned that the growing unaffordability of formal housing is pushing many Ghanaians into informal settlements.

“During the visit, I observed the housing construction and physical transformations taking place primarily in Accra,” he said. “I could see flashy billboards around the capital promoting real estate investments at stratospheric prices far from the reach of the average Ghanaian.”

He noted that the high cost of formal housing has left many citizens with limited options, including relocating to informal settlements. Currently, about 31 per cent of Ghana’s urban population lives in such settlements, with a considerable number also experiencing homelessness.

Mr Casla called on authorities to listen more actively to the needs of people living in poverty when designing public housing policies, stressing that affordability must be central to any intervention.

He also highlighted the significant role of Ghana’s construction sector, which employs hundreds of thousands and contributes an estimated 7 to 15 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.

Source: GNA