Land acquisition with its subsequent development by private individuals has over the last few decades been fraught with difficulties occasioned by double sale of land, fraudulent conduct by some vendors including chiefs and family heads.
The challenges eventually beget litigation. In many cases, land litigation may last from three to over ten years and all this while, the developer or individual land buyer may have to await the final determination of the suit in court.
The changing economic situation even worsens the plight of land buyers as cost of building materials and labour rise quite rapidly while they wait for years for a resolution of the land dispute.
Also of concern to land buyers is the creeping phenomenon of land guards on properties who claim to be the overseeing the interests of their so-called principals. The ruthless conduct of these land guards in carrying out their illegal activities discourages genuine individual land buyers.
These difficulties conspire to make land acquisition in Ghana a headache. However, Chief Executive Officer of Locus Estates, a company which aspires to help transform the real estate industry in Africa, says the growing number of real estate companies in the country offer substantial hope and cushion for potential land or property buyers from the stress of litigation and having to contend with land guards. According to Yaw Afrifa, these companies conduct due diligence and a lot of background checks on lands they buy, and this saves persons who acquire land from them from litigation and other uncertainties that traditional land buying presents.
“We believe heavily in land banking as a great investment and for that we have an established Standard Operating Procedure for land acquisition which goes through various processes such as legal consultations, collateral registry checks, various departmental search at lands commission as part of our due diligence, and proper background checks and this ensures that our lands are free from litigation. This works well for our clients and saves them the needless stress,” Mr Afrifa explained.
Checks from the court registry suggest that land cases constitute about 60% out of the total cases in court. Meanwhile, the average increase in land cases per year is 25% whereas the rate of settlement is as low as 10%. This data surely raises concerns for investors and potential property owners. For these reasons, the Locus Estates Chief Executive is certain “potential property owners skip all the hustle and are guaranteed peace of mind when they purchase from developers like us.”
Ghana’s Housing Deficit
On the matter of Ghana’s housing deficit which stands at 1.8 million as of 2021 and the difficulty of companies like his putting up reasonably priced houses for the masses, Mr Afrifa believes the “main challenge with affordable housing in urban areas in Ghana is land availability in terms of the cost involved and accessibility.”
This, he says has resulted in many of these affordable housing projects being located far away from built-up areas to take advantage of relatively low land prices. The consequence, according to him, is that, besides the price of these properties, “other constraints for low-income earners include transport costs and the challenges of daily commuting without a reliable public transport system.”
On how his company is working to improve the statistics on the housing deficit of the country, Mr Afrifa revealed that, they “have decided to create a model housing project and partner with financial institutions to provide credit and long-term funding for homeowners. We are also partnering with the local assemblies to provide a reliable and affordable public transport system for low-income earners in this project.”
According to him, by September 2023, the first phase of an affordable housing project in East Legon Hills will be available for low-income homeowners and this will hopefully bring some relief to low-income earners who wish to own homes.
Mr Afrifa blamed the high cost of building materials, the depreciation of the local currency and a lack of government support for the problems in the real estate sector, while mentioning that access to long-term financing (mortgage) with affordable interest rate payments will provide some succour for potential homeowners.
The Wawa’s Apartment
Government Intervention Needed
The Locus Estate boss called on government to “take centre stage in creating policies that make it attractive for developers to invest more in affordable housing.”
“The government can make it available through planning to allocate a section of land in urban areas for specific investments into affordable housing. The government, through the Central Bank, can also reduce lending rates to banks that borrow for affordable housing projects.” Mr Afrifa observed.
According to him, it is about time the government strengthened local producers of building materials by creating the necessary environment for them to thrive through favourable tax regimes, funding and other policies that compensate local producers and disincentivise the importation of building materials to save the local currency.
About Locus Estate
Locus Estate is a leading real estate and lifestyle developer in Accra, Ghana. Established in 2017, Locus Estate has successfully developed and delivered multiple properties across Ghana.
The company prides itself in their extensive portfolio of modern houses, apartments and lands strategically located in some of the most sought-after locations. Locus has an exciting portfolio of off-plan and completed properties to choose from.
Locus Estate has a diverse local and international client base including investors and end-users (owner-occupiers). Locus currently has several multi-million-dollar ongoing projects that are due to be delivered before 2025.
It’s free to schedule your “viewing session at one of the many luxurious apartments and houses in Accra”.
Locus Vista, East Airport, Accra Ghana
info@locusestate.com
+233 32 219 2177/+233 200 557 704
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