Minority members on the Works and Housing Committee of Parliament say prices of housing units constructed by the State Housing Company are too high.
According to them, even the average Ghanaian and the middle class cannot afford to buy them.
The prices for various developments undertaken by SHC and inspected by the committee range from GH₵800,000 to GH₵1.1 million around Adenta and Amrahia in Accra.
Speaking to JoyNews, Minority Spokesperson on Works and Housing, Vincent Oppong Asamoah said even he, a privileged MP cannot afford that price and wondered where a low-level civil servant will get such an amount to purchase such housing units.
“Looking at the structure and the price they are quoting, I wonder the people that would be able to afford … I have not had such money in my account throughout my entire life,” he said.
Chairman of the Committee, Isaac Kwame Asiamah is also concerned about the prices but says the current management of the State Housing Company must be commended for lifting the company from ruins.
According to him, the cost is not affordable since the middle class will even struggle to raise the amount.
“I think after visiting four sites of SHC, I think we are so happy and impressed about the greater innovation, creativity and enterprise that has gone into their operations …but as MPs, we are concerned about the cost.”
Meanwhile, the Managing Director of SHC, Kwabena Ampofo Appiah says the institution over the years has been seeking to be profitable and to provide homes of the highest quality at the lowest prices available.
He said however that SHC has experienced a number of challenges including land acquisition in the Greater Accra Region.
He said that the government has offered to provide SHC with roads, water, and electricity, which will go a long way to reducing the cost of the housing units.
He said that if “this is something we can sustain in the long term, it is going to help us as a company to be able to deliver lower-income homes.”
