Housing Policies in Ghana. A historical overview from 1920-2014

Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2015 in the subject Sociology - Habitation and Urban Sociology, language: English, abstract: Maslows theory of needs puts shelter on a high pedestal and sees it as one of the most fundamental needs of mankind. This view is asserted by Karl Marx when he stated that life involves before anything else eating and drinking, a habitation, clothing and other things. The ability of a nation to provide decent housing for its citizenry has been among other things, a barometer considered in assessing its level of development. Globally, housing problems have been attributed to a considerable extent on the affordability of units provided and ease of construction. The housing deficit, affordability of housing units and cost of construction materials are among a myriad of problems that governments of developing countries are forced to grapple with. Most governments attempt controlling these problems through housing policies. In Ghana however, the grave housing deficit of 1,600,000 units has been influenced by a number of failed attempts at housing provision since independence. In investigating the rapid buildup of the housing deficit, this paper provides a historical account of housing policies and finance interventions made by colonial and post-colonial governments. In doing so, the study concentrates on the review of secondary data. From a historical viewpoint, the paper established that the gross failure of successive housing interventions by various governments contributed significantly towards worsening the housing deficit.