General News of Thursday, 13 November 2008

Source: GNA

Law on home mortgage financing passed

Accra, Nov. 13, GNA - Parliament on Thursday passed a bill that would provide a uniform system of home mortgage financing into law. The Home Finance Mortgage bill would regulate the activities of financial institutions, which provide financial assistance related to the acquisition of residential property.

The bill also applies to the transactions between finance institutions and their customers for the provision of finance for the construction, purchase, completion, extension, renovation or improvement to a residential property.

A parliamentary report on the bill said the move towards the creation of standard documentation for mortgage transactions was expected to help in the evolution of a vibrant home mortgage market. The House also approved a report on a Road Toll (Amendment) Regulations legislative instrument to expand existing toll roads in the country.

This is to increase the number of toll booth for the mobilization of revenue to improve road network in the country. A committee's report said a number of road accidents could be linked to poor conditions of some of the road networks and therefore a proposal to increase the number of toll booth on the highway to generate more revenue for the maintenance of roads in the country was in the right direction.