He said the country’s housing deficit can never be tackled if the prices of accommodation keep rising.

Speaking at a meeting with members of the Ghana Chamber of Construction, Nana Akufo-Addo called for a collaborative effort between government and the private sector to address the issue of housing.

“I hear in Ghana, some small three-bedroom house in East Legon costs between $354,000 and $500,000. You get mansions for that in many parts of America. With between a $100,000 and $200,000 you get a very well appointed home because the materials that are used for construction in the UK are local, and are very cheap.”

“We need to find ways of building strong and cheap houses in the country.”

In 2012, the erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC) government began the construction of the Saglemi Affordable Housing project at Prampram in the Ningo Prampram District of the Greater Accra Region.

The facility was meant to be a 5000-residential unit facility to ease the accommodation deficit in the country.

It sits on a 300-acre land with one to three-bedroom flats for low-income earners.

Phase One of the US$200 million project saw the construction of 180 blocks comprising over 1,500 flats.

Soon after the New Patriotic Party (NPP) came to power, the project has become a matter of controversy, following years of abandonment.