Accra-Ghana, Nov. 14, GNA – The Government has started a review of the Rent Act, 1963 (Act 220) and Rent Control Law, 1986 (P.N.D.C.L 138) to safeguard the rights of tenants.
Mr Francis Asenso-Boakye, Minister for Works and Housing, said the review was intended to safeguard the rights of tenants who had been out priced by the uncontrollable hikes in the cost of renting accommodation.
He said this during the Meet the Press weekend session at the Information Ministry.
The Minister said, the existing law, (Act 220), passed by Parliament 59 years ago, had outlived its relevance by the current population growth and urbanisation.
He said the law needed some amendments to deal with housing availability, rental rates, housing redistribution and eviction controls that had engulfed the housing sector.
The review, if passed by Parliament, would remove inherent constraints and offer incentives, which would stimulate private sector investment.
“This will ensure that, property developers are not discouraged from investing in the housing industry by rigid rent control mechanisms, which suppress chargeable rent to artificial levels,” Mr Asenso-Boakye said.
He said: “The Rent Bill provides that a landlord who demands the payment of rent in advance for more than one month in a monthly tenancy, or a tenancy, which is shorter than one month, or more than one year in a tenancy, which exceeds one year, commits an offence.”
