SSNIT Flats On Sale

THE Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has put up for sale its 2,730 rental houses throughout the country. The houses will cost between ¢50 million and ¢175 million and institution tenants have been given the first option of purchase.

Mr Kweku Osei-Bimpong, Public Affairs Manager of SSNIT who disclosed this in Accra yesterday, said after the end of August, this year, the trust will automatically deal with tenants directly, should any institution refuse to respond to the offer. Explaining the rationale behind the decision of the trust, he said the maintenance and operational costs of the facilities have gone beyond the expectations of the trust. Therefore, the sale of these properties has become the last option.

Mr Osei-Bimpong said those who want to acquire their flats will be offered flexible terms of payment to enable them to pay without facing serious financial problems while those who cannot afford, will be made to pay rent. The rentals will continue for a while and after a period, the flats will be sold out finally. He added that the property rates being charged by the district and metropolitan assemblies on the Trust’s estates are so astronomical that they run contrary to what the Trust is charging a tenant per month when one considers the fact that only one per cent of the occupants are contributors. “The trust can no longer subsidise for people who do not contribute to the trust,” he said.

Mr Osei-Bimpong said other expenses such as insurance and cost of maintaining the buildings, among others, have become so huge that it is uneconomical to the trust to hold on to the buildings. He said it is unfortunate that even with the very low rates, some tenants have failed to pay rent to an extent that about 100 tenants in Adenta and Sakumono had to be arraigned before the courts to retrieve the monies.

He said rent outstanding to SSNIT from the two areas alone as at May this year, is about ¢190 million and indicated that this is why the housing system cannot be sustained.

Mr Osei-Bimpong said to ensure that the occupants maintain a conducive environment so that the value of the facilities are not eroded, the trust will liaise with the various tenant associations to form a management committee to oversee the management of the estates.

Meanwhile, investigations have revealed that most of the flats, particularly those at the Dansoman, have been rented out by the is original occupants to tenants who are paying economic rates. It was also revealed that some companies are also renting the rooms to their staff at rates almost twice as much as that of the trust but do not even maintain them.

A few of the tenants interviewed welcomed the intention of SSNIT to sell the flats, on flexible payment terms. Some tenants were however, unhappy with the manner in which the heads of their institutions are rushing to buy the flats and suggested that if possible the trust should consider the occupants first.