Minister of Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye has revealed that the government will soon set up a National Housing Authority to assist in dealing with the 2 million housing deficit in the country.

Speaking during the launch of the maiden edition of Home Ownership Series organized by the First National Bank on Thursday, April 15, the Bantama lawmaker revealed that 60 percent of Ghanaians will need government support in the form of subsidy to acquire their own houses.

He said also that 35 percent of Ghanaians cannot acquire their own homes even with the support of government.

To that end, he said, the government has taken the decision to set up the new authority.

“Interventions in the past have been piecemeal resulting in the country struggling with the housing deficit currently in excess of two million housing units.

“To address this precarious situation there is the need for a concerted government policy direction that focuses on bridging the current institutional gap to provide mass subsidized housing targeted at the 60; percent population in the short to medium term .and the remaining 35 percent in the long term as our economic situation improves,” he said.

He added “The government recognizes the real challenges. We need to critically look at the general institutional architecture that drives the housing sector.

“For this reason the NPP government plans to set up a national housing authority to lead the supply side of the housing market.”

Mr Kojo Addo-Kufuor, Executive Director in charge of Home Loans at First National Bank said the bank is prepared to assist the government in tackling the housing deficits the country is saddled with at the moment.

“The bank strands ready to partner government in its implementation going forward, “he said at the same event.

In an earlier statement issued by the Bank, Mr Addo-Kufuor indicated: “We are looking at helping as many Ghanaian with a holistic experience in the homeownership journey. We have enhanced our home loans offering to enable us help many who want to make that move from being a tenant to a homeowner.

“We have engaged with a lot of developers, who are key stakeholders in the real estate value chain, including SBJ, Saka Homes and Adom City to make the properties affordable to the average Ghanaian.”

He added: “At first National Bank, we’re here to help Ghanaians to experience the awesome feeling of having a place you can call your own, and we are here to offer all the help we can so that many more people can get to realise their dream of home ownership.”