A two-day conference for housing excellence, organised by the Institute of Housing to find solutions to the housing challenges facing the country, has opened in Accra.

The conference is on the theme: “Ghana must build again, using coherent strategies for a sustainable housing delivery”.

Ms Helen Ankrah, Founder of Conference for Housing Excellence, said the conference being attended by renowned local and international players from the housing industry, would seek to identify locally accepted definition of affordable housing.

She said other components of affordable housing, such as effective management of land banks, financial products and legal instrument, would be discussed.

She said the feedback at end of the conference, would be fed into the 2nd year’s housing pact, as a trail to help Ghana Building again.

In a speech read on his behalf, Alhaji Collins Dauda, Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing commended the organizers of the conference for sustaining and maintaining their focus over the years.

He said government has identified housing as a critical sector of the economy for addressing poverty, and ensuring social stability giving the assurance that government will not relent on its efforts to ensure a total development of the sector.

He said in order to ensure that safe, adequate and decent housing are provided for the people, the Ministry has over the years collaborated with key stakeholders, to develop the relevant policies, regulations and bills, as a way of achieving its objective.

He said the Housing Policy is currently before Cabinet and will be given approval before the close of the year, to provide safe, adequate, secure decent and affordable housing that is accessible and sustainable.

He said the Policy also recommends the establishment of a National Housing Fund, designated for affordable mortgages, slum upgrading and support for small-scale local building material producers.

He said the establishment of the National Housing Authority has also been recommended under the Policy, to operationalise government’s housing policy through strategies and programmes to be implemented by Ministries, Departments and Agencies, the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assembles, and other stakeholders.

Alhaji Dauda disclosed that a Bill for the establishment of a Real Estate Authority to regulate the real estate agency practice, commercial transactions in real estate including the sale, purchase, rental and leasing of real estate and related fixed assets, has been approved by Cabinet to be laid in Parliament.

He explained that the Bill would not only regulate the real estate industry, but would also help to prevent the use of real estate transactions for the purpose of money laundering and other vices.

He gave the assurance that, through government’s policy on public private partnership, the Ministry would continue to do everything within its powers to provide shelter for the people.