Exploring potential interventions for improving affordable housing for low income earners in Ghana
Abstract
On the onus that Affordable housing includes not just the inert structure known as a
house but then the gamut of some aspects of the environment which enhance living
making it more acceptable and satisfactory. The study’s aim was therefore to identify
prospective interventions for improving affordable housing deficits of low income
earners in Ghana. An extensive literature review was conducted on accessibility to
affordable housing; challenges in providing accessible housing; intervention for
improving accessible hosing. The results obtained from the literature review provided
the basis of the development of structured questionnaires and interview for the field
survey. Philosophically, deductive reasoning to knowledge was adopted culminating
into the adoption of quantitative methods in which information was elicite d from 150
and 10 respondents using questionnaires and interviews respectively. All distributed
questionnaires were retrieved representing a 100% response rate. Successfully, the
statistical analytical tools utilized in data analysis include Relative Importance Index
and descriptive analysis. The key findings of this study led to establishing the fact
that, most people in Ghana live in houses which do not belong to them and also
considering the affordability of accommodation of respondents’ majority of the
population considers their accommodation not affordable. Results from the study also
shows that the two main challenges in providing affordable housing are Weak housing
policies and Poorly developed housing institutions and Improved financing
mechanisms to low income earners and Innovative financing to help housing
developers are the two main strategies which aid in improving affordable housing in
Ghana. The study recommended that government should come up with mechanisms to
help people to afford housing, make available access to better security, water as well
as sanitation of tenure in affordable housing units and strengthen its weak housing
policies and poorly developed housing institutions. Finally, the study concluded that
improved financing mechanisms to low income earners and Innovative financing to
help housing developers are the two main strategies that are essential in improving
affordable housing in Ghana
Description
A dissertation submitted to the Department of Building Technology, College of Art and Built Environment in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of a Master of Science,