The Minister for Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye, has commissioned a newly-built housing project by the State Housing Company Limited (SHC), an agency of the ministry.
The housing estate, named 'Urban Premier Court,' and situated at Adenta, a suburb of Accra, is made up of forty (40) housing units with two, three and four bedrooms apartments.
Commissioning the housing project, the minister expressed satisfaction about the extent to which the SHC is executing its mandate of providing quality homes in thriving communities where people have a sense of pride and place.
Asenso-Boakye said, “the SHC, has in the past few years, proven beyond reasonable doubt that they are capable of providing housing solutions that are accessible and affordable to the general public.”
This, the minister indicated, is evident in the number of housing units they have provided in recent times.
Having said this, Francis Asenso-Boakye commended the Board of Directors and management of the Company for effectively utilizing their Internally Generated Funds (IGF) to construct the Urban Premier Court and similar housing projects for the Ghanaian public.
Considering the strides SHC has made in the housing industry, the minister expressed confidence that with the right financial support, the Company can provide housing units on a larger scale.
To this end, he revealed that the ministry has extensively engaged the Agence Française de Dévelopment (AFD) to provide long-term financing for the SHC and TDC Development Company Limited to roll out more housing units to meet the needs and financial capacity of the general public.
"The Ministry has developed a framework of subsiding Affordable Housing through the provision of unencumbered land and infrastructural services to make housing affordable and accessible to a significant segment of our population,” the minister added.
He, therefore, entreated the SHC and all privates developers to take advantage of the framework to provide more housing units for the people of Ghana.
Francis Asenso-Boakye also commended the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) for providing a dedicated bulk transformer for the project which has reduced the cost of the housing units for the home buyers.
The Managing Director of the SHC, Mr Kwabena Ampofo Appiah, on his part, commended his staff for working assiduously to push the Company to new heights and pledged the Company's commitment to ensuring that they provide housing units for the good people of Ghana.
He encouraged prospective house owners to take advantage of SHC projects to acquire quality edifices at affordable rates. He explained that projects owned by the SHC are constructed under flexible payment plans.
“The good thing about these projects is that you have a flexible payment plan. So you go to the bank and take advantage of their mortgage plans and you pay over a period of time,” he added.
The minister handing over the houses