Urban Housing in Africa is dominated by the private rental sector. The sector delivers over 90 percent of housing units in urban Ghana. In spite of this, the urban rental housing sector appears unstructured, complex and informal. Using Kumasi as the primary case, this paper sought to answer the following questions: How is Ghana's urban rental housing market structured? Who are the main actors in the market and what are their roles? How do the relationships and activities of these actors shape rental housing? Rooted in the theory of market economy, the study adopted multiple qualitative methods, including observation, focus group discussions; key informant interviews, institutional consultations and document reviews to gather evidences. The paper reveals the non-existence of a comprehensive institutional and policy framework for the delivery and management of rental housing; thus, giving rise to informal operations of the sector. In the face of rapid urbanisation and rising costs of housing materials, the supply of rental housing lags behind demand leading to high costs of rent and exploitation by prospective tenants.
Dinye, Irene-Nora, and Romanus Dogkubong Dinye. "UNPACKING THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONING OF THE URBAN RENTAL HOUSING MARKET IN KUMASI, GHANA." In Redefining the Future of Real Estate in Africa: the 21st Annual AfRES Conference. AfRES. Accra, Ghana: African Real Estate Society, 2022.
Section: Peer Reviewed Papers