Ghanaian workers were on Friday advised to patronise mortgage schemes with the hope of owning their own houses at the prime period of their lives.

Mr. Enoch Teye Mensah, Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, who gave the advice said mortgage systems needed to be developed and rolled out to enable workers to own decent and affordable houses.

He was speaking to journalists when he toured a prototype three-bedroom semi-detached house situated at Okponglo, a suburb of Accra, that had been proposed to be replicated for the security services.

Mr. Mensah expressed worry that some workers were accommodated in houses that did not have toilet facilities such that the tenants had to form long queues to attend to nature’s call.

He advised that monies that the workers spent on rent advances and on huge accommodation schemes could be deposited in mortgage systems that would enable them to own decent houses.

Mr. Mensah called on private sector operators in the housing industry to roll out attractive, affordable and decent mortgage schemes for Ghanaians.

A mortgage is a debt instrument that is secured by the collateral of specified real estate property which the borrower is obliged to pay back with a predetermined set of payments. Mortgages are used by individuals and businesses to make large purchases of real estate without paying the entire value of the purchase up front.

The prototype house, which is made of fully galvanized steel, is said to be earthquake and fire resistant and configured to be fully energy independent.

It was delivered by the Toyota Housing Corporation, a subsidiary of Toyota, in conjunction with Ghana Japan Oil Company Limited (GJOCL) under the auspices of the National Security Council and the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing.

Mr. Leslie Tamakloe, Managing Director of the GJOCL, said his outfit had invited the security services to make inputs and specifications which would be finally documented as a proposal to be sent to Parliament.

He said when given the approval, management would establish a factory that had the capacity of building 250 units of the prototype every month.

Mr. Tamakloe said management was expected to increase its local content from the initial 20 per cent to 55 per cent when the company became fully operational.

He said the quick-built housing scheme used purely Japanese methodology for housing and construction.