The Minister of Works and Housing, Francis Assenso-Boakye, has appealed to workers to show interest in the government’s new affordable housing project in order to secure homes for themselves.
He said the new policy had flexible payment terms for different categories of workers and they must take advantage of it either as individuals or unions.
“The idea is to provide unencumbered land and horizontal infrastructure. Since the launch, I have received many requests but the Ministry’s responsibility is mainly in the area of policy. Workers must show interest with the developers under the new affordable project to arrange homes for their workers,” he said.
Mr Assenso-Boakye made the appeal at the inauguration of the Legacy Court Project of the State Housing Company (SHC) at Adenta, a suburb of Accra yesterday.
The Legacy Court is the seventh housing project to be completed by the SHC under its current management which took office seven years ago.
It is a 40-unit development made up 40 child-homes and single-family homes as well as a mini-market and a sports facility.
The Minister said currently, work had commenced on the Pokuase-Afiaman site in the Greater Accra Region and as a strategic partner, the SHC had been selected as part of the developers to assist the Ministry achieve this remarkable project.
“I wish to seize this opportunity to entreat interested buyers and Trade Unions to contact the State Housing Companies on the modalities to access these housing units,” he said.
He explained that the programme sought to subsidise housing units with land, infrastructure, social services, commercial support services, and a well-structured payment plan, stressing that “The objective is to reduce the cost of housing units by 30 to 40 per cent and ultimately make housing affordable and accessible to majority of Ghanaian workers.”
He noted that the initial phase of the initiative involved the construction of 8,000 housing units on a 203-acre parcel of land located in Pokuase/Amasaman, as well as the development of 6,000 housing units on a 200-acre tract in Dedesua within the Ashanti Region.
Touching on the SHC, he said it was founded with the primary objective of enhancing the accessibility of residential properties by undertaking the planning, construction and administration of housing communities across the country.
This objective he said was what had culminated into the development of the seven projects under the management of Mr Kwabena Ampofo Appiah over the last seven years.
“Certainly, there is no doubt that the State Housing Company Limited has demonstrated, in recent years, its ability to offer housing solutions that are both attainable and economical to the broader populace with the appropriate backing and structure,” he emphasised.
Mr Assenso-Boakye expressed his appreciation to the Board of Directors and the management of the SHC for their ingenuity and the success in establishing their meticulously designed communities and solely funded through their internally generated funds (IGF) and off plan sales arrangements.
The Managing Director of the SHC, Mr Kwabena Ampofo-Appiah, on his part said the company over the last seven years had inaugurated a number of projects including the Marlo Court, Clark Urban Premium, Seasons Court, all in the Greater Accra Region, the Bumankuma Estate in the Western North Region, and Sunyani Estate in Bono Region.
Mr Ampofo-Appiah said the company in the coming days would be inaugurating the Search Homes in the Greater Accra Region, the Fourth Ridge Estate in the Central Region, Takoradi Estates in the Western Region and the J.A Kufour Estate in the Ashanti Region.
BY CLIFF EKUFUL & DEBORAH TEIKO MARTEY
