The Rent Control Department received 73,352 complaints from tenants and property owners between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2022.

According to the Department, 52,813 of the cases were from property owners (landlords) seeking to recover their properties “due to rent arrears by tenants”.

The remaining cases, numbering 20,539 were filed by tenants who claimed they were being fleeced by the landlords.

These were disclosed to citinewsroom.com by the Head of Public Relations of the Rent Control Department, Emmanuel Hovey Kporsu.

He said investigations conducted by the Rent Control Department revealed that “most landlords did that to force tenants to vacate their premises to enable them to re-rent those premises to new tenants at a higher price due to the economic situation in the country.”

Addressing the role of housing in the COVID-19 response, Mr Kporsu expressed concern over the failure of landlords to verify the residential permits of foreign tenants before granting them access to rented accommodations.

He emphasized the need for landlords to thoroughly screen their tenants prior to entering into rental agreements with them.

“The issue of checking tents before giving access is an issue. The landlords need to check their tenants before renting to them. This issue of renting to anyone who can pay has to be relooked,” he cautioned.

Mr Kporsu also mentioned that the revision of the Rent Control Act, coupled with the implementation of a digitization agenda, will contribute to addressing these issues effectively.

Emphasizing the law which states that “don’t charge rent in foreign currency and not more than six months,” Mr Kporsu cautioned landlords to refrain from such acts or face the law.

Since the launch of the National Rental Assistance Scheme, on 31st of January 2023, Mr. Kporsu said “GH¢18 million is currently available for disbursement to qualified Ghanaians”.

He added that “3,670 Ghanaians have applied, 1,117 applications are pending verification, 290 applications have been approved, 260 applicants have received their funding, 498 applications are incomplete, and 1,505 applications have been denied or closed due to the fact that the applicants were testing if the scheme is real and not a scam”,

While launching the rental scheme, the government explained that Ghanaians above the age of 18 with a valid national ID card and verifiable employment with an income, qualify for a rent loan in five to ten working days under the scheme.

Total rent is paid to the prospective landlord of the applicant and the applicant in turn makes a monthly payment to the National Rental Assistance Scheme.

Applicants are expected to be evicted from the house or room if they default on the monthly payment arrangement.