By Edzorna Francis Mensah
The Minister of Works and Housing, Francis Asenso Boakye is urging Landlords to desist from taking over six months’ rent advance from their tenants to avert possible prosecution under the Rent Act (Act 220).
He reiterated the fact that Section 25 of Rent Act, 1963 (Act 220) prohibits Landlords from collecting more than six months’ rent advance, and therefore any Landlord who contravenes the law commits an offence and is punishable by the law.
He stressed the point that, though the Rent Control Department, has been addressing petitions brought to its offices for settlement and again, “the Department has been undertaking sensitization programmes to educate Landlords and Tenants on the provisions of the law, especially with regard to the rights and responsibilities of the landlords”.
Responding to a Parliamentary question asked by MP for Keta Kwame Dzudzorli Gakpey in that, regard, the Sector Minister recognized that, rapid urbanization and exclusive reliance on market mechanisms, as well as the inability of the housing delivery system over the years to meet the population growth, has resulted in a huge housing deficit.
And, as a result, “demand for housing has outstripped supply, which ultimately favours Landlords. To a large extent, this situation affects a significant section of the population, especially those in the lower to middle-income range”.
He, however, submitted that in the medium to the long term, the Ministry is pursuing policy measures to create an enabling environment together with the private sector, for the provision of more housing stock in the Rental Market for all classes to afford and not necessarily paying huge rent.