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CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

Despite man's unprecedented progress in industry, education, and the sciences, the simple refuge

in affording privacy and protection against elements of weather is still beyond the reach of most

members of the human race. The unevenness of man's advance from the lower species is best

illustrated in his struggle for shelter (UN-HABITAT, 2003). Shelter is recognised throughout the

world as a basic human right and the adequacy or otherwise of housing is an important

component of individual wellbeing (Korboe 1992). In view of this, the United Nations General

Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution proclaiming 1987 as the International Year of

Shelter for the Homeless (Manama and Antwi 2006).

According to Mulder (2006), governments of nations are full of attempts to provide adequate

shelter for the population. However, the housing production is slow and the dilemma of

population forecasters illustrates the complex way in which population and housing are

interrelated. The UN-HABITAT (2003) indicates that for the many years of effort and financial

expenditure that so many governments have spent in trying to expand homeownership, rental

housing still constitutes a large component of the housing stock in many countries. While the

incidence of renting varies considerably across the world, rental housing accommodates a

significant share of families in many countries. These include the world's most developed

societies like Germany where rental housing constitute 60 per cent of house ownership (UN-

HABITAT 2003).

The bulk of housing across the world has been provided by the private sector, and increasingly

by small investors for their workers as part of their social obligation or for profit

(UN-HABITAT 2003). According to UN-HABITAT (2003) the few institutions that used to

provide housing has ceased to do so despite their unprecedented attraction of people into cities as

evident during the industrial revolution hence rental housing becomes the solution to home

ownership.

Within the developing countries like Ghana, deteriorating housing in the rural areas and shortage

in urban areas constrain the housing supply especially for the low and moderate income

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households (Owusu l999) and an alternative solution to housing ownership is renting and

sharing. According to UN-HABITAT (2010), housing ownership problems continue to increase

and the only solace this is rental which represents 22.1 per cent of the housing stock in Ghana.

According to Mulder (2006), population growth through immigration leads to growth in housing

demand. The introduction of University for Development Studies (UDS) Wa campus as a

growth pole has the tendency of influencing rental housing situation in Wa since 77.1 per cent of

the entire student population depend on rental houses as means of accommodation. UN-

HABITAT (2010) indicates that, rental housing in Upper West Region constitute 13.3 per cent

of housing stock in the region.

It is, therefore, imperative to assess rental housing situation in Wa in relation to the

establishment of UDS Wa campus on the daily lives of students, ordinary renters, landladies and

landlords. The study highlights the economic effects rent charges on students and the current

situation that emanate from the establishment of UDS Wa campus.

1.2 Problem Statement

The centripetal nature of the cities creates intense pressure on the economic and spatial structure

of urban systems such as on services and facilities like hospitals, educational institutions,

housing, transport, telecommunication systems and energy supply. This is because the provisions

of these facilities are expanding at rates slower than the rate of growth of the urban population

thus creating a wide margin between demand and supply of urban infrastructural facilities and

services (Olayiwola et al 2006). This assertion is of much relevance to housing and population

situation in Ghana.

According to UN-HABITAT (2010), Ghana housing problem is one of a national development

crisis with a current annual need of 70,000 units and an accumulated delivery deficit of 250,000

units needed to de-crowd urban households from over 10 to a household occupancy rate of 7.

An average annual delivery of 133,000 units are needed to provide adequate housing within the

next twenty years, as against the current annual delivery of 28,000 units which yields a

performance rate of 21 per cent.

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As per the study area, Wa has a population of 96,818 people, 16,516 houses and a household

size of 5.9 persons. Using the assumption that every household is to one housing unit or average

household per house of 3.5 (Ghana Statistical Service 2000) this gives a housing deficit of

39,012 housing units hence renting and sharing is the only ameliorating factor which constitute

13.3 per cent (UN-HABITAT 2010) of housing stock in Upper West Region.

The nature of the city land uses is a process that changes with the economy (Olayiwola et al

2006). The introduction of UDS as a growth pole in an area has effects on access to basic

services and facilities including housing. With existing housing deficit of 39,012 in Wa and slow

hostel development around the campus, the campus only accommodate 22.9 per cent of the entire

student body. The remaining 77.1 per cent will have to seek accommodation in rental houses

elsewhere either within the immediate surrounding areas or within Wa Township itself. This

situation affects students and ordinary renters especially the poor in getting accommodations.

The delivery of housing at rates that would be adequate to meet the rapid growing population has

since been a major concern of governments and the public at large. In spite of efforts made by

governments and private estate developers to provide accommodation for students, the problems

continue to worsen. An immediate solution to accommodation problems on campus is rental

housing which represents 22.1 per cent of the housing stock in Ghana (UN-HABITAT 2010). It

is against this imperative background that, the study seeks to examine the plight of student in the

light of rental housing in Wa.

1.3 Research QuestionsIn view of the above circumstances, the study seeks to find out;

1. What are the housing needs of Students of UDS Wa campus?

2. What are the problems in renting accommodation on students’ lives?

3. Are students satisfied with the rent they pay in relation to the services and facilities

provided by landlords?

4. What are the policy recommendations to rental housing?

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1.4 Research Objectives

From the above questions, the general objective of this study is to assess the effects of student

intake on the trend of rental housing in Wa. The specific objectives are as follows:

1. To explore housing needs of students in UDS Wa campus.

2. To examine the problems of rental housing on students’ lives.

3. To assess housing satisfaction in relation to payments made for services and facilities

provided by landlords.

4. To make policy recommendations concerning rental housing in Wa.

1.5 Justification of the Study

The annual urban housing need in urban areas of developing countries alone is estimated at

around 35 million units (during 2000-2010). The bulk of these, some 21 million units, are

required to cater for the needs of the increasing number of households. The rest is needed to

meet the requirements of people who are homeless or living in inadequate housing (UN-

HABITAT 2001). Students’ residential accommodation in universities is rapidly gaining

grounds within the context of this problem

This study unveils and highlights how rental housing situation is,

after the establishment of UDS Wa Campus. Also the study identifies the relationship between

rent paid and accommodation satisfaction, the housing needs of students, and the problems of

students’ rental housing. It will also indicate the economic and social effects of students renting

housing and how the current situation has been handled by the Rent Control Department (RCD).

This study provides direct policy relevance to the way forward for rental housing by linking the

corporate world with decision making through research findings and recommendations. Also the

study will serve as an addition to academic knowledge in the field of housing and provide data

base for Wa, RCD, the District Assembly and the University. The study will also improve the

personal knowledge in the field hence help improve human resource base for the country.

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1.6 Scope

The scope of this study is divided into two; geographical scope, contextual and time scope.Geographically, the study area of performance is Wa which is located in Upper West Region under Wa Municipality. It shares boarders with the following settlements - to the north by Kperisi, south by Kpongu, east by Busa and to the west by Charia.Contextually, the study is to examine university students’ residential accommodation and rental housing in Ghana in relation to the establishment of UDS Wa campus.With reference to time line, the research was due to start in September 2010 to April 2011.

1.7 Research Methodology

The methodology of this study will include the proposed research design, sampling and

sampling method, data collection procedures and data analysis procedures

1.7.1 Sample Determination and Sampling Method

On the basis of resource inadequacy and limited time, a sample was used as a fraction to

present the study population. From the research questions and objectives purposively, the unit of

analysis include landlords, student, and Rent Control Department (RCD) and the Municipal

Assembly. In the determination of the sample sizes of the community, the formula below is used

n = N

1+N(a2)

Where n = sample size

N = sampling frame

1 = constant

a = confidence level

The above is used because of data availability for all variables. As much as 77.1 per cent (6739)

of the student population is not accommodated by the school. Using that as the sampling frame

and a confidence level of 90%

n= 6739

l+6739(0.12) n=98. 5

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Rounded up to the nearest whole number, 100 household questionnaires were administered to

students. Institutional questionnaire for RCD, Municipal Assembly and the university authority

were also be administered. Since the study area is divided into five clusters (See table 2), one-

fifth of the number of questionnaires were administered in each cluster with the assumption of

even distribution of population across space. Further, for the number of landlord to be

interviewed in each cluster, one-fifth of the number of questionnaires in each cluster was

interviewed.

1.7.2 Data Collection

Both primary and secondary data were used for this study. For the primary data, questionnaires

were designed and interviews conducted for students, landlord, and institutions such as RCD.

Observation will also be used as an instrument for the primary data collection when necessary.

The secondary data also include literature on concepts and issues related to the study. These

were obtained from scholarly journals, official statistics, reference books and technical reports.

Table 1 shows a detailed methodology to this study.

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Table: 1. 1 Data Type and Instrument for Collection

Research Issue Objective Data Required Data Source

Mode ofCollection

What are the housing needs of students?

To know the housing needs of students

Student intake, housing stock, housing facilities, housing demand and supply

UDS, Ghana Statistical Service

Interviewguides and literature review

What are the problems students renting accommodations?

To know theproblems of rental housing in students’ lives

Current rentcharges, student’s budget, housing facilities,

Landlords, studentsand Rent ControlDepartment(RCD)

Interviewguides andQuestionnaire

Are students satisfied with the rent they pay in relation to the services and facilities provided by landlords

To assess whether students are satisfied with the rent they pay in relation to the services and facilities provided by landlords.

Housing characteristics, housing facilities and services, rent levels

Students Questionnaire

Is there any wayforward to rentalhousing situation inthe area?

Recommendation tothe forward torental housing inWa

Students andlandlordsopinions

Students and landlord

Questionnaire

Source: Author’s construct, 2010

According to Rice (1995), in central limit theorem if a sample size of at least 30 is selected and

properly distributed, research findings are close to reality when dealing with small sample size.

From this proposition the emphasis is on distribution of the sample size. In order to give a true

representation of current situation of this study, the study area (Wa) is divided into five clusters

as follows;

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Table: 1. 2 Cluster and their Description

Cluster Location Description No. of Students No. of Landlords

Bamahu North Where the permanent campus is located

20 4

Sombo West Were the temporal campus was located

20 4

Jahan East High class residential area 20 4Kabannye Central Low class residential area 20 4WaterVillage

South Middle class residential area 20 4

Source: Author’s construct, 2010

The questionnaires were equally distributed among the clusters with the assumption that the

houses are equally distributed across the spatial entity. Within each cluster however, convenient

sampling was used. Observation skills were also use to collect sensitive data

1.7.3 Data Analysis

The processed data becomes information upon which informed decisions can be made.

Techniques in both qualitative and quantitative data analysis were employed. For the quantitative

data, Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to facilitate the

generation of percentages and means. The qualitative data were analysed to establish trends

and patterns. Cluster analysis was used to establish the extent of variation of major indicators

within cluster and the possible reasons to these effects.

1.8 Research Limitations

The main limitation of the research was the inability of some respondents to give accurate

information with regards to the correspondence between current and previous answered

questions in the same questionnaire. In view of this limitation, 120 questionnaires were

administered to cater for internal and external validity instead of the calculated sample size of

100.

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1.9 Organisation of Report

The report is organised in four chapters. Chapter one is the general introduction which

incorporates the problem statement, research questions and objectives and the methodology

adopted. Chapter two is literature review on concepts related to the key issues of the research and

chapter three indicates the profile of the study area. Chapter four incorporates the analysis of

research data and presentation of data that addresses the key research questions and objectives.

Chapter five gives summary findings and recommendations.

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CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

2.1 Introduction

It is remarkable how research has been devoted to the relationship between population and

housing. Adequate housing supply might attract immigrants or influence their choice of

residential location. Housing supply may also play a decisive part in leaving the parental home

and the formation of married and unmarried unions. It is possible that the supply of housing

plays a part in the timing of fertility or the number of children people have (Mulder 2006).

Contrary, on the other hand, population growth through immigration plays decisive part on urban

housing supply as it puts pressure on existing housing stock compelling immigrants to relay on

renting and sharing.

A large proportion of residents in cities and towns of developed as well as developing countries

are tenants (UN-HABITAT 2003). Twenty years ago, renting and sharing in the cities of

developing countries were neglected topics. They were neglected in two senses. First, as

UNHABITAT indicated that, there was profound ignorance about who most tenants and sharers

were, about the conditions in which they lived, and “almost nothing is known about those who

provide rental accommodation”. Second, governments were wholly uninterested in tenants and

sharers, except to convert them into homeowners (UN-HABITAT 2003). This chapter therefore

seeks to review literature, which provides readers with a background for understanding current

knowledge on a topic, and illuminates the significance for the new studies.

2.2 Rental Housing in Global Perspective

Rental housing stock varies between countries, within countries and between cities. In some

countries, rental housing is provided mostly by the public sector, in others by private landlords.

In developed countries, most forms of renting are subject to the legal process, whereas in most

developing countries this is not the case (UN-HABITAT 2003). Rental housing for poor families

differs remarkably both within cities and across countries and this is evident in both cities is the

range of rental housing options available – by location, quality, level of services and rent. In this

regards, UN-HABITAT identified the following kinds of rental accommodation:

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Rooms in subdivided inner-city tenements;

Rooms in custom-built tenements;

Rooms, beds or even beds rented by the hour in boarding or rooming houses, cheap

hotels or pensions;

Rooms or beds in illegal settlements;

Shacks on rented plots of land;

Rooms in houses or flats in lower or middle-income areas;

Accommodation provided by employers;

Public housing; and

Space to sleep rented at work, in public places, even in cemeteries

UN-HABITAT in 2003 further categorized these based on range of characteristics and key

variables. Table 3 shows the diversity in rental houses.

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Table: 2.1. Diversity in Rental Housing

Variable Range of CharacteristicsSize Shared room Room with

access to sharedservices

Self-containedsmall

Self-contained large

Construction None – lot only Shack/garage Deteriorating central areaTenement

High rise or detached

Ownership Private Social Employer PublicPrivate Ownership Small scale Lodging One or two rental property

Ownership Large scale individual Large scale

CommercialIncome Very poor Poor Middle income High incomeRental period Hours Monthly Yearly PermanentRent Free Cheap Moderate ExpensiveMaintenance Dangerous Substantial

ProblemsMinor problems No problems

Landlord-tenant relationship

Familial Informal Semi commercial Commercial

Profitability Loss-making orSubsidized

Low Medium High

Legality Illegal Legal contractin illegal dwelling

No contract in alegal dwelling

Fully legal

Source: UN-HABITAT (2003)

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As the nature of rental houses various as cross countries, the role and importance of rental

housing also varies significantly. Table 2.2 shows selected countries and proportion that use

rental houses.

Table 2.2 Proportion of rental Housing Usage

Country Year Ownership (%) Renting (%) Others (%)African

Benin 1994 63 37 -Egypt 1996 69 31 -Nigeria 1998 93 7 -South Africa 1996 77 33 -

AsiaIndia 2001 87 11 3Iran 1996 81 19 -Republic of Korea 1995 75 25 -

Latin America -Chile 2002 72 20 8Brazil 1998 74 25 1Colombia 1997 61 35 4

Developed CountriesAustralia 1999 50 50 -Germany 1998 40 60 -United States 1997 66 34 -United kingdom 2000 69 31 -The Netherlands 1999 54 47 -Ireland 1999 80 20 -Source: Adopted from UN-HABITAT (2003)

In parts of West Africa and South Asia, the incidence of renting is generally extremely high. In

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, 80 per cent of households were tenants in the 1980s and in Port Harcourt,

Nigeria, 88 per cent of households were renting accommodation in 1984 (Arnaud 1994).

In the rental housing model, homogeneous landlords post rents and make take-it-or-leave-it

offers to the tenants, who are heterogeneous in income. These landlords face a trade-off between

setting a higher rent and finding a tenant more quickly. Their optimizing behaviour is based on

their knowledge of the market state, both in terms of rent offers and corresponding times-on-the-

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market. They withdraw from the market if their expected benefit from participation is negative

(Mc Breen et al 2009).

Tenants are supposed to observe a sample of the offer distribution and to visit one randomly

chosen residence. They accept offers based on an optimizing behaviour that trade-offs a quicker

match, and therefore reduced search costs, against a lower rent. Tenants must decide their

reservation utility- that is the minimum utility they are willing to accept from a residence. This

reservation utility is chosen to determine whether a residence they have viewed is better in

expectation than the outside opportunity, which is to continue searching with the associated

costs. Each iteration, housed tenants have an exogenous probability to leave their apartment and

become searchers (Mc Breen et al 2009). In rental housing, rent is seen as a function of vacancy

rate within a specific time frame. Utility for both landlords and tenants are satisfied when

vacancies are occupied and tenants are housed. The time taken by tenants to search for a

particular choice of residence is equal to the time waited by that prospective landlord’s vacancy

to be occupied.

2.3 Concept of Housing Needs

The concept of housing need varies considerably in its conceptualization, measurement,

application to policy and expression across space. After the Great Depression and World War II,

many countries faced severe housing shortages. Consequently, a prime component in the

definition of housing need was the quantity of units required to house the current population and

to replace physically inadequate units (Koebel and Renneckar 2003). The concept of housing

need is predominately normative. Relationships between housing conditions and physiological

needs are difficult to establish. Housing, however, clearly has an impact on quality of life, be it

measured in economic or psychological terms. Housing conditions and neighbourhood

characteristics are highly interrelated therefore conceptualization of housing needs goes beyond

physical quantities of houses needed to satisfy a given population. Housing needs are met

through a variety of means including subsidizing private rental housing costs, or providing direct

assistance through government-owned or-sponsored social housing and individual investment.

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Housing needs provide detail about people's aspirations including key estimates on the numbers

and types of households, incomes, affordability of housing, suitability of existing housing and

the scope of alternative housing solutions. Aside housing aspirations, housing condition, housing

need is one of the criteria use for justifying intervention in housing policies. According Sumner

(2005) housing need is more amenable to quantification than housing aspiration, because it deals

with the household in the context of its dwelling requirements. It integrates housing condition,

but relates the condition of the dwelling to the household inhabiting it.

Housing need varies continuously because households are dynamic entities hence there are two

approaches to the measurement of housing needs. The first is a cross-sectional measurement at a

moment in time; the second is the measurement of rate of change over a period of time.

Examples of cross-sectional measurements are surveys, or the census. An example of the rate of

change method is tracking households coming into and out of need to determine if need is

increasing or decreasing (Sumner 2005). The cross-sectional measurement recommended by

Sumner (2005) can be represented as:

Existing households in unsuitable housing (minus).

Those of the above households who pass a means test (plus).

Concealed households needing to move but unable to afford market housing (plus).

The homeless, including those in temporary accommodation or “homeless at home”.

Housing economists frequently use some variation of the discrepancy model to look at relative

need – the gap between standards and actual characteristics (needs) for some or all parts of the

population. The discrepancy model involves: goal setting, performance measurement, and

discrepancy identification.

From the above, housing needs is the gap between the total number of households and number of

dwelling units or houses deem habitable. It refers to the quantity of houses that are required to

adequate house an entire population. Housing needs assessment therefore involves complete

enumeration of existing housing stock. This is expressed in three forms: existing housing need,

replacement need and future housing need. In assessing existing housing need, current housing

stock is compared with the number of households as explained above by Sumner (2005). The

replacement need is calculated by using the replacement rate. This takes into consideration the

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average life span of houses. The United Nations for instance indicates that the life span of houses

range between 25 years to 100 years. The replacement rate is determined by dividing the upper

limit by the lower limit expressed as a rate. The replacement housing need which is indicates the

number of houses to be replaced each year is thereby determined multiplying the rate by the

number of households. Future housing need on the other hand is the estimation of the number of

housing needed to adequate house the population in future through projection of current

population and current housing stock.

2.4 Rental Housing Market in Ghana

Ghana rental housing market is characterized by state provision, real estate developers,

individual developers and financial institutions as player. Data on the distribution of housing in

Ghana reports that there are 2,181,975 houses countrywide even though a total of 3,877,418

dwelling units or places of abode are recorded. This implies that, about 1,695,443 ‘houses’ or

places of abode inhabited by a number of households are not conventional houses (Bank of

Ghana 2007). Ghanaians are reported to be living in rooms in a compound, the separate house

(detached house), semi-detached house, several huts/buildings, improvised house

(kiosk/container), living quarters attached to a shop, camps or tent, hotel or hostel, flat or

apartment.

Of these, compound houses accounted for 45 per cent and emerged as the most common

dwelling unit in both urban and rural areas. Separate or detached houses (24.1 per cent) is found

to be the second most common dwelling type in all regions (ranging from 15.9% - 27.2 per cent)

except the Volta Region (44.7 per cent) where it is predominant. Semi-detached house (15.2 per

cent) is the third most common type in all regions and in rural (15.6 per cent) and urban (14.8 per

cent) localities. Flats or apartments ranked fourth in the country (4.2 per cent) and in urban

localities (7.2 per cent). ‘Improvised house (kiosk/container) and living quarters attached to a

shop’ were found mainly in urban localities of the Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions due to

rural-urban migration (Bank of Ghana 2007).

The private sector has been in the forefront of addressing the housing needs of the nation, as the

state and parastatal agencies like the Tema Development Company (TDC), Social Security and

National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), State Housing Company (SHC) have slowed down in their

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direct construction of the housing units for the populace. As part of government commitment to

housing development, in 1986, a National Housing Policy Committee was formed by the

Ministry of Works and Housing (MOWH) to examine the housing situation in Ghana. This was

geared towards an appropriate Government Policy and Action Plan that seeks to provide

adequate and decent housing units in order to improve the quality of life of people in urban and

rural areas.

The committee drew a National Housing Policy and Action Plan covering the period 1987

through to 1990. Prior to the Action Plan, the MOWH had identified the need for a

comprehensive National Shelter Strategy (NSS) and an enhancement of the Ministry’s planning

capacity to implement housing policies. The Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing is

currently pursuing various affordable housing programmes through agencies such as the TDC,

and the SHC. Under the National Housing Programme, apartments and unit flats are currently

being constructed in Accra, Tema, Cape coast, Sekondi-Takoradi and Tamale.

2.5 Rent Control

Rent control exists in many nations around the world. Rent control laws vary from one country

to another, and may vary in context within a country. Discourse over rent control is extensive

because they assume much flexibility. Unregulated rent upsurges allow tenants to move thereby

creating vacancies. Rent control is the act of a principal frameworks applying control over how

much landlords may raise rent (Krugman 2000). It is based on this that arguments in favor and

against rent control ranges from economic to social viewpoints as follows;

Economic

With rent control, tenants can request that hidden defects, if they exist, be repaired to comply

with building codes requirements, without fearing retaliatory rent increases. Rent control could

thus compensate somewhat for inefficiencies of the housing market.

Although some opponents contend that rent control decreases housing investment, in reality rent

control laws often exempt new construction. In jurisdictions where rent stabilization has

exempted new construction for so long, construction trends in more recent decades must be

related to other factors.

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The economic arguments against rent control are often based on vacancy decontrol and

exempting new construction. Rent control may influence housing investment either positively or

negatively, depending on how it affects the local economy and public.

Most economists believe that a ceiling on rents reduces the quality and quantity of housing

available. This view is based on analysis of empirical evidence as well as the understanding

generated by theoretical models. Krugman (2000) have cited rent regulation as poor economics

which, despite its good intentions, leads to the creation of less housing, raises prices, and

increases urban blight. A survey regarding rent control finds that economists consistently and

predominantly agree that rent control does more harm than good. The survey encompasses

particular issues, such as housing availability, maintenance and housing quality, rental rates,

political and administrative costs, and redistribution (Krugman 2000)

If a price is forcibly kept low, there will be higher quantity demanded for housing. When

quantity demand exceeds quantity supplied, a shortage presents. But, while builders are restricted

in the rents they may charge, they are less willing to construct more housing. Since supply is

perpetually low, landlords worry less about tenants leaving, causing little incentive to maintain

the property.

Social

Rent control is considered necessary to protect the public and to prevent landlords from imposing

rent increases that cause key workers or vulnerable people to leave an area. Homeowners who

support rent control point to the neighborhood instability caused by high or frequent rent

increases and the effect on schools, youth groups, and community organizations when tenants

move more frequently.

Tucker (1997) has argued that rent control has the perverse effect of creating less affordable

housing. By artificially lowering rents on some units with long term tenants, even in some cases

forcing landlords to maintain that at a loss, rent control forces landlords to recoup this lost

income on newly vacated units, thus increasing rent for new tenants beyond what is necessary.

By creating a disincentive to move from units where they enjoy artificially low rent, such rent

regulation will actually limit individuals’ mobility, and thus either prevent them from taking

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advantage of employment opportunities that may require relocation, or force them into longer

commute times, with all of the financial, environmental, and personal impacts thus created. Such

economists point to policies such as housing vouchers as both more equitable and more

successful in ensuring housing for poorer renters, without many of the damaging externalities

created by imposing price regulation on landlords (Tucker 1997).

Furthermore, rent control may not be effective at lowering rents in the area under control. A rent

control board or regulatory agency may be captured or politically influenced by the land owners

or "landlords", and may be able to influence the regulatory process or "game the system" to the

extent that the rent-controlled increases are more than what they would have been in the free

market without the rent control law (Tucker 1997).

Moral

Friedman and Stigler (1946) "Rent ceilings, cause haphazard and arbitrary allocation of space,

inefficient use of space, retardation of new construction and indefinite continuance of rent

ceilings, or subsidization of new construction and a future depression in residential building.

Although those paying lower than market rent are "protected," most economists argue that newer

residents actually pay higher rent due to reduced supply.

In a 1992 survey, 93.5 per cent of economists asked agreed that "A ceiling on rents reduces the

quality and quantity of housing available." Only 6.5 per cent disagreed with the assertion

(Friedman and Stigler 1946).

From the above issues on economic behavioural studies the myths of rent control with regards to

the social, economic and moral arguments both in favour and against rent controls as follows;

Private landlords cannot afford to build new rental housing because of rent controls.

Rent controls must have an annual guideline rent increase.

Shelter allowances are a good substitute for rent control

Free markets will provide fair rents. Without controls lots of apartments will be built and

then prices will drop.

Landlords are losing money because of rent controls.

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Landlords could not afford to do repairs and other maintenance because of rent controls

Vacancy decontrol doesn't hurt because it doesn't affect tenants who remain in their

apartments

Loosening rent controls have improved the vacancy rate and lowered rents.

Rent regulations primarily benefit the rich.

These myths are, however, debatable and must be subject many to critical hypothetical analysis.

2.6 Types of Rent Control

There exist several forms of rent controls used by different countries. These include;

Tenancy rent control

The most common form of rent control is where rents are initially freely negotiable but there is a

limit on the amount of rent increase (‘tenancy rent control’ or ‘second-generation rent control’).

The maximum allowable increase is either:

A fixed percentage (e.g. Dubai, Philippines, Pakistan, Tunisia),

Or a fraction of the construction cost index (e.g. France) or consumer price index or CPI

(e.g. certain cities in the US, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Colombia, Uruguay)

Or a combination of the two (e.g. Canada).

Tenancy rent control is typically accompanied by vacancy decontrol – when the unit is vacant,

rents can be increased by any amount. Newly constructed buildings are usually exempt from rent

control (Malpezzi et al 1992).

Maximum rent systems

Sometimes the authorities determine the maximum rent, and apply it equally to new and old

tenancies. Often, the maximum allowable rent is a certain percentage of the property value

(enforced in India, Taiwan, Luxembourg, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Syria, and Costa Rica).

The property valuation is typically based on historical cost and not on the current property value,

so that real rental returns fall over time (Malpezzi et al 1992).

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Rent freeze systems (“absolute” rent control or “first generation” rent control)

Sometimes rents are kept at a pre-determined level, typically that of the year when the law was

introduced (such is the case in Qatar). For newly constructed units, no rent increases are allowed

after the unit is rented out. Such laws were implemented mainly after World War II to avoid

rapid increases in rent due to increased demand from refugees or from returning soldiers. This

type of rent control has mostly been abolished, relaxed or is largely not enforced (e.g. US Virgin

Islands).

Split systems

Here only a certain portion of the housing market is under rent control ; typically, rental units for

poor households or de-nationalized buildings (e.g. US, Philippines, Cyprus, Czech Rep.,

Dominica, Aruba, Bahamas, Bermuda, Trinidad and Tobago, and Honduras).

Ineffective systems

While most rent control laws are biased towards tenants, some are actually benign due to the way

in which they are implemented – or not implemented, as the case may be. Non-implementation is

a surprisingly widespread phenomenon. In some countries, there is a prescribed amount of rent

increase - but the parties are free to accept it or not. If one of the parties feels that the increase is

too much or too little, they can ask for the rental authority to adjust the rent (enforced in the

province of Quebec, Canada). In others, the landlord can apply for a rent increase higher than the

prescribed amount, if he would otherwise experience hardship, or for capital recovery or

renovation. Inflation is also significant. In the Philippines average inflation is around 4% - 5% -

but the annual rent increase cap is 10%. This is largely benign, and gives landlords plenty of

room for capital recovery. In other cases, the rent control law is largely unimplemented (US

Virgin Islands, Taiwan). In the Bahamas, for instance, rents for houses worth B$25,000 and

below are government-determined, according to a 1975 law, but no house in the Bahamas is now

worth so little (Ballesteros 2001).

22

2.7 Nature of Rent Control in Ghana

The Rent Control Act 220 of 1963 and subsequent ancillary legislative interventions such as the

Rent Control law (1986) PNDC 138, as amended by law 163 was enacted and promulgated to

regulate the relationship between tenants and landlords, thereby ensuring sanity and peaceful co-

existence. The Act makes it clear, among other things, that landlords can only charge 6-months’

rent advance and succeeding rents are due every six months. Clearly this law sought to restrain

the hand of a wicked, callous landlord who would demand for rent advance for a longer period

from a poor, unsuspecting would be tenant. Ironically, this is exactly what is happening in Ghana

today. Lack of enforcement of The Rent Control Act has only succeeded in presenting a very

chaotic situation but also leaves tenants to the mercy of the market forces.

Rental contracts last for the duration of the advance payment, usually one to three years. An

option to renew can be included in the contract. If the tenant wishes to pre-terminate a contract,

he must inform the landlord three months in advance. In most cases, the tenant must look for

someone to take over the lease for the duration of the contract, or wait for the repayment since

the landlord may have invested or spent the money already. According to Malpezzi et al (1990)

Act states that rents are to be fixed by the Rent Officer taking into account the following:

(a) Ratable value,

(b) Land value,

(c) The rates payable,

(d) Recoverable rent assessed for similar premises where they have been assessed by the minister

(e) Estimated cost of repairs or maintenance

(f) Amount of rent for like premises,

(g) Current rate of interest charged by the Ghana Commercial Bank for overdrafts,

(h) Obligations of landlord, tenant or other interested parties under the lease,

(i) Justice and merits of each case.

23

For many years, tenants of houses owned by State Housing Corporation or other government

agencies have been profiting from the very low rents by moving out and letting the whole of

their dwelling to another household for a higher rent than they have to pay, or by subletting part

of their house to another household for more than a fair proportion of their total rent (Malpezzi et

al 1990). In 1973, the Rent (Amendment) Decree sought to control this. By Section 7, occupants

of houses built by TDC, SHC, or any government agency should not charge, demand, or receive

on subletting, a monthly rent in excess of an aggregate of:

(a) The instalment payable per month to TDC, SHC, etc.;

(b) The equivalent of property rates payable; and

(c) 20% of the total of (a) and (b)

2.8 Conceptual Framework

Consumer satisfaction or dissatisfaction is a core concept in marketing. It is determined based on

the overall feelings or attitude of a person about a product or service after it purchased or

experienced. Consumers are engaged in a constant process of evaluating things they bought these

products are integrated with their daily consumption activities (Mustafa, 2009). The issue of

dissatisfaction among the students commonly results from house quality and service quality. The

houses and service quality are important factors that contribute to the rent determination from the

perspective of students, hence ultimately influence their satisfaction and landlords profit and

market share. The inconsistency and discrepancy between renters’ expectations and the

landlords’ perceptions in rental housing market determines the market outcomes that assert

whether renters are satisfied with the rent they pay or not.

In relation to the above, numerous studies have been conducted. For example, Chee and Peng

(1996) examined the marketing of houses in Malaysia by focusing on the relationship between

customer orientations and important component of the marketing concept, by analyzing the

house buyers' satisfaction (Mustafa, 2009).

According to the Expectancy Disconfirmation Paradigm (EDP) theory, when purchasing a

product or service, the customer forms expectations concerning the future performance of the

item. If the product or service performs as well as, or better than expected, the customer will be

24

satisfied. If performance is below expectations, dissatisfaction will result (Mustafa, 2009). The

rationale for adopting the EDP theory in the research is offered based on that. Renter satisfaction

and problems is as a function of the expectations, direction and magnitude of disconfirmation.

Studies on customer satisfaction suggest that the primary backgrounds of satisfaction are product

and service performance, and the renters' expectations regarding that performance. In this

context, a Conceptual Framework on House buyers’ satisfaction in Housing Projects is adopted

and re-modified to suit the purpose of this study. The framework highlights issues of price,

location, service quality, buyers’ expectation and developers’ perception. These variables are,

however linked to buyers’ satisfaction.

As per the objectives of this study, emphasis is on the demand side of the equation, hence,

housing as a noun is the subject of analysis. With the upward surge of rent in Wa, students within

a given budget constraint want to maximize satisfaction from the rent they pay irrespective of

location, housing type, quality of services. From the demand side of the equation, it is backed by

external influences of influx of students and their eagerness to have shelter over their heads. This

coupled with current housing deficit from the supply side make transactions in the rental housing

market very rigorous to the mercy of the invisible hand (market forces of demand and supply)

with or without little policy guidance and intervention. The expectation of students and the

perception of landlords and their interaction in the market regulated or not regulated by policies,

determine the market outcomes. These outcomes have bearings on renters’ satisfaction. A house

buyers’ satisfaction in rental housing conceptual framework, which integrates the demand and

supply sides of rental housing market and its outcomes constitute scheme underlying the study is

shown in figure 2.2.

Housing SupplyHousing StockNew residential

development

Landlords’ reception of renters’

expectations

RENTAL HOUSING MARKET

Renters’ perception of house

Housing DemandsHousing need

Population

Rent

Location

Transportation

House qualityHouse design

House materials

ServicesAvailabilityAccessibilityReliability

ResponsivenessQuality

Market OutcomesAffordability

ChoiceProfit

HomelessnessRent Surge and

Exploitation

Renters Characteristics

Satisfaction

25

Figure2.2: Renters Satisfaction Conceptual Framework

Source: Author’s Construct (2011)

Form figure 2.2, the framework seeks to establish relationship between rent, location,

transportation and housing services within the rental housing market which should be regulated

by policies. It also relates these variables to the perception of renters and expectation of landlords

to the rental housing market on the basis of renters’ characteristics, rental housing demand and

supply. These therefore establish the extent of satisfaction of renters in the market. The following

constructs are applied in this framework;

26

Rent

The amount renter and landlords agreed on in exchange of room form the landlord for payment

from renters. Rent is seen as a function of location and the availability of services and facilities.

All other things being equal, it is presumed that high rent payers have greater satisfaction, better

housing environment, both in terms of physical structure and social environment.

Location

The location of rental housing determines the rent levels. Using UDS as a growth pole, it is

assumed that rents vary inversely with distance from the University campus.

Transportation

Tenants at various locations will commute to campus using various means of transport. The

location of a student will determine the kind of transportation means to use and the associated

cost. Transportation cost will have influence on rental location. It is assumed that student will

prefer locations with the least transport cost.

Services

The level, availability and use of services and facilities provided in the house have great

influence on rent levels and students satisfaction. Houses with better services and facilities will

be preferred by all which goes with corresponding cost base on house location.

Renters Characteristics

At the core of this study is to assess the characteristics of rents and the conditions in which the

live. These may include income and basic demographic data that influences their choice of

residential location and its relationship with the other variables.

Rental Housing Market

The rental housing market will seeks to address the various actors in the market and their roles

and interests. This market is assumed to be regulated by government interference through

policies to correct market failures. The interaction therefore will determine the market outcomes

base on the demand and supply forces.

27

2.9 Nature of University Students’ Residential Accommodation in Ghana

A salient feature in recent times in public universities in Ghana is the growing recognition of the

increasing number of admissions in relation to slow development of infrastructure. Experience

over the years show that, no public university in Ghana in recent times is capable of

accommodating all its’ students. Various universities in this respect have put in policies to

reduce the pressure on existing facilities. For the purpose of this study, emphasis is placed on

experiences of University of Ghana, University of Cape Coast and University of Science and

Technology.

University of Cape Coast

University of Cape Coast has a total student population of 35,922. The breakdown is as follows:

14,815 Regular Undergraduate Students, 2,146 Sandwich Students and 18,018 Distant Learning

Students. The University of Cape Coast admitted a total of 4,251 students into its various

programmes for the 2009/2010 Academic Year. These were selected from a total of 11,730

candidates who applied for admission to the University. The university has 6 halls of residence

and namely; Adehye Hall, Atlantic Hall, Casely-Hayford Hall, Kwame Nkrumah Hall, Oguaa

Hall, Valco Hall.

The University authority, following the recommendations made by the Residence Committee,

began in 2007/2008 academic year, “IN-OUT-OUT-OUT” Student Residential Policy. The new

policy replaces the (IN-OUT-OUT-IN) which has been in operation since the beginning of the

2002/2003 academic year. Under the new policy, the first option for residential status will be

given to Level 100 students. Junior Common Room executive members, physically/visually

challenged persons and active sports men and women are considered for residential

accommodation. Other categories of students are considered subject to the availability of bed

spaces. This is against the background that the halls cannot cater for the accommodation needs of

the students, hence, majority leave their fate to the mercy of the market forces- the invisible

hand. Immediate solution is to this renting and sharing where over 80 per cent of the student

population is accommodated in rentals houses.

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University of Ghana (Legon)

The authorities negotiated for a GH¢50 million loan facility from CAL Bank, Fidelity Bank, Eco

bank Ghana, SG-SSB, Agricultural Development Bank and International Commercial Bank for

the construction of four separate four-storey students' hostels expected to accommodate about

1,600 students in each block. The present Halls and Hostels are as follows:

Legon Hall (males and females)

Akuafo Hall (males and females)

Commonwealth Hall (males only)

Volta Hall (females only)

Mensah Serbah Hall (males and females)

Valco Trust Hostel Annex (postgraduate students only)

International Students Hostel (mainly for International Students)

SSNIT Hostel (males and females)

Jubilee Hostel (males and females)

Each Hall consists of junior members (students) and senior members (academic and senior

administrative and professional staff), and is managed by a Council comprising members elected

by persons belonging to the Hall. It is, however, sad that these residential facilities are not able to

meet the accommodation needs of student since 70 per cent seek solace outside the school

premises.

University of Science and Technology (UST)

On the average, there has been 10% annual increase in students admitted to the Universities in

Ghana without a corresponding increase in the physical development. This has led to

overcrowding in the halls of residence. Facilities include modern internet cafe, Communication

centre, Badminton court, Games room, Gym, Chapel, Salon, Gift Shop, Shopping mall, kitchen

that serves food etc are increasingly been put on high pressure. The current situation of

accommodation in the halls is as follows.

Africa hall has 192 inhabitable rooms and presently the total student population is about

514.

Independence hall consists of 198 rooms in the main hall and 96 rooms in the annex, thus

accommodating a student population of 840. 

29

Queen Elizabeth II Hall has student population of 840 with 294 rooms.

Republic Hall is a mixed Hall with about 850 students It has 198 rooms in the main, 96 in

the annex block. 

Unity Hall is the largest hall with an original accommodation capacity of 448 rooms but

presently has 36 extra flats, and has 1000 students

University has 198 rooms, and the annex has 95 rooms.

The actual number of students who stay in these halls of residence exceeds the authorized

numbers known. This is a clear indicate of the extent of accommodation problems in all public

universities in the country. Majority between 80 to 90 per cent in public universities in Ghana

depend on rental housing.

2.10 Case of Nigeria Public Universities

Every society is faced with the problem of producing human habitation in sufficient quantity,

and obtaining the kind of quality desired, at prices that individuals and families can afford

(Handler 2001). The problem arises from the phenomenal increase in populations in many

countries particularly in the developing ones, vis-à-vis availability of resources, rising cost of

building and competition with existing and emerging needs in areas such as health, education,

the environment, the economy and security among others (Ubong, 2007).

As a result of the above, Nigeria has a large and ever-increasing housing deficit which stood at

approximately 8 million housing units in 1991 and 12-14 million housing units in 2007

(Aikhorin,2008). A more recent estimate puts the figure even higher at 16-17 million housing

units (Onyike, 2008). At an average cost of N2.5million per housing unit, Nigeria would require

N35trillion to fund a housing deficit of 14million housing units (Onyike, 2008)

The student population is rapidly increasing, while the infrastructural amenities are declining in

supply and their stock depreciating, hostel facilities are in deplorable states and are overcrowded

(Akpan 1998). Accommodation of students in Nigeria became a topical issue following the

decision of the Federal Government in 2003 to increase hostel fees to N10, 000.00 (about

$73.43) per academic year (Ubong, 2007).

30

Despite the fact that campus hotels and hall facilitates reading/learning, co-curricular activities,

security and national Integration, nevertheless, major of students seek accommodation in rental

houses. In the Federal College of Education, Omoku, The accommodation capacities according

to Records Department, Registry, FCE (T), Omoku for four halls of residence in 2003/2004 are

as follows:

Table 2.2 Registered Student 2003/2004

Sex Hall Number of Students

Female Abuja 344

Lagos 270

Male Port Harcourt 195

Enugu 230

Total 1039

Source: Ubong, (2007)

The rooms occupy between two and six persons while the flats occupy between 18 and 72

persons. However, with ‘squatters’, the rooms and halls could take two times their official

number. While the bed spaces have remained constant over the years, the student population has

been increasing yearly. The population of the students registered in 2003/2004 was 2813, hence,

1774 students had to seek accommodation in rental houses around campus. The number of

students in the hostels vis-à-vis the designed capacity has implied considerable stress on facilities

including beds and toilets.

This situation led to a great debate in Nigeria university education. Proponents of greater funding

of education by government which includes accommodation argue, according to Okoh (2001),

that tertiary education aims at meeting the manpower needs of the country aside from being

beneficial to the learner; that high fees would be discriminatory and would limit access to

education for the poorer citizens; that uneducated citizens could pose a problem to national

security; and that if misappropriated funds were put in the education sector, there would be less

need for high fees.

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Those who believe that appropriate fees should be charged including accommodation argue that

many parents are paying high fees in private schools; that charging appropriate fees would make

resources available for purchase of more and better quality facilities and for research; that

students who pay high fees are likely to be more serious with their studies; and that government

revenue from crude oil will dry up one day, among other arguments.

Specifically on hostel accommodation, Okoh states that the near-zero accommodation fee that

attracts resale by students is exploitative and fraudulent on the part of students and should be

stopped. Meanwhile, the students could as well be living with their parents or be accommodated

by them as a filial responsibility.

University accommodation in Nigeria are in short supply; demand far outstrips supply, reason

there is overcrowding, collapsing facilities in the hostels and fraudulent sale of bed space by

students to fellow students; the governments that own the public universities indicate that they

are financially unable to increase the stock of hostels/halls and cannot fund maintenance of

existing ones; any attempt to increase charges for bed space by government or the institutions so

as to raise funds to maintain the hostels meet stiff opposition from students (Ubong, 2007).

Nigerians have deluded themselves with the fact that the good things of life should be given free

of charge just because there is a wasting asset called crude oil. As a result of such

misconceptions, citizens are highly sensitive to charges on things perceived to be public good

that should be doled out free to citizens as of right for instance education.

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2.11 Lessons Learnt

The literature review highlighted certain salient issues. These issues are the basis from a

conceptual framework is drawn as show in figure 2.2. They also serve and basis from which

survey instruments are designed for specific units of observations. These issues include:

The price and demand for rental housing changes as the distance from the Central Business

District (CBD) increases. In the light of students’ residential accommodations and rental

housings, students will, however, compete for close residence to university campus in an attempt

to maximize utility. This therefore increase rent around campus.

Rental accommodation in rental housing in Ghana includes the following. Students in rental

houses use one of the options below:

Rooms in subdivided inner-city tenements;

Rooms in custom-built tenements;

Rooms, beds or even beds rented by the hour in boarding or rooming houses, cheap

hotels or pensions;

Rooms or beds in illegal settlements;

Shacks on rented plots of land;

Rooms in houses or flats in lower or middle-income areas;

In view of high rent cost and low supply of accommodation by schools authorities, students seek

accommodation in cheaper locations that are far away from the institution. This has effects on

their transportation to and from school and hence their performance.

Ghana housing market is characterized by state provision, real estate developers, individual

developers and financial institutions as player. It is possibility of joint ownership of hostels -

including those off campus – by private developers and university authorities

Institutions want ensure that a minimum level of services such as sanitation, electricity, water

supply, and security are provided to students. However, public universities are not able to

accommodation all students, hence, ensuring this level of services in rental housing in very

difficult.

33

The inconsistency and discrepancy between renters’ expectations and the landlords’ perceptions

in rental housing market determines the market outcomes that assert whether renters are satisfied

with the rent they pay or not. Hence, housing services, location and quality determines the

market outcomes that consumers expect such as affordability.

Experience over the years show that, no public university in Ghana in recent times is capable of

accommodating all its’ students. Various universities in this respect have put in policies to

reduce the pressure on existing facilities. “IN-OUT-OUT-OUT” and “IN-OUT-OUT-IN” student

residential policies are now common in all public universities in Ghana and Nigeria.

34

CHAPTER THREE

PROFILE OF STUDY AREA

3.1 Introduction

The Ghanaian societal context, occasioned by urbanization and improved technology, is dynamic

with increasing diversity. Migration patterns positively respond to the urban realm where service

facilities are readily accessible. This increasingly put a stress on access to the supply side factor

of the housing market, which includes land, finance, material use and infrastructure. The

citizenry have increasingly become impatience at the rate at which right to housing is on the

mercy of the hands of the market forces. Housing may attract migrants or prevent out-migration,

and a lack of housing may prevent migrants from entering or lead to out-migration. The question

is, of course, under which circumstances this link works and under which it does not. A credible

hypothesis about these circumstances is, the less urgent the migration, the closer the relationship

with housing (Mulder C. H 2006). In this regards, this chapter seeks to review literature on the

profile of the study area (Wa) including, demographic characteristics, micro economy,

geophysical characteristics among others. This serves as the basis for comparative analysis and

an over view of the status-quo of Wa and UDS, Wa campus.

3.2 Background of UDS

PNDC Law 279 established university for Development Studies in May 1992 with the motto

“Knowledge is the greatest wealth”. It started academic work in September 1993 with the

admission of thirty-nine (39) students into the Faculty of Agriculture (FOA), Nyankpala. It is a

multi-campus institution currently ran in Northern Region, Upper East Region, and Upper West

Region excluding Brong-Ahafo Region as initially planned. It is the fifth public university to be

established in Ghana.

The mission of the University is to run programmes that will effectively and efficiently combine

academic work with community-participation and extension. The University’s principal

objective is to address and find solutions to the environmental problems and socio-economic

deprivations that have characterized northern Ghana in particular and are found in some rural

areas throughout the rest of the country. Accordingly, UDS consciously and systematically run

programmes that are targeted to preparing the individuals to establish their own careers in

34

35

specialized areas. Further, it equips these practitioners with requisite knowledge to enable them

to live and function in any deprived community in the country. The university presently runs six

faculties, one school and two centres of excellence. Further, there are Masters Programmes in the

social sciences, and sciences leading to the award of doctorate degrees.

The UDS also runs a community-technical interface programme. This is a combination of the

academic and community-based field practical work known as the Third Trimester Field

Practical Programme (TTFPP). It covers a trimester in each academic year and cuts across all

faculties in its integrated approach, and ensures that students live and work closely in

communities to formulate specific interventions to address specific challenges

Centre for Continuing Education and Inter-disciplinary Research (CCEIR) at Navrongo Campus

ensures coordination of all research activities of the University. The Gender Programmes Unit

also leads in the process of gender mainstreaming in the policies and programmes. Also at the

Navrongo Campus is the French Language Centre of the University.

The University has established academic and research linkages with a number of Universities

and Research Institutions both locally and internationally. It is also a member of the Association

Commonwealth Universities (ACU), and the Association of African Universities (AAU). UDS

will always remain grateful to the Government of Ghana and all other stakeholders for their

tremendous support and goodwill.

The School of Medicine and Health Sciences which offers courses in medicine and the three

other health related programmes is located in Tamale, the capital of Northern Region of Ghana.

The Faculties of Agriculture and Renewable Natural Resources are located in Nyankpala within

the Tolon/Kumbumgu District, about 20 km south-west of Tamale. The faculty of agriculture

which offers four-year programmes in B.Sc. Agriculture Technology and B.Sc. Agribusiness is

arguably the largest Agric Faculty in the Country. In the faculty of renewable natural resources,

the only programme offered is BSc. Renewable Natural Resources.

The Faculty of Applied Sciences, a center of excellence for the sciences is at Navrongo in the

Upper East region. At the undergraduate level, four-year degree programmes are offered with

various areas of specialization.

36

The Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science was established in 2002, under

the Faculty of Applied Sciences initially with the aim of providing Mathematics education in the

University.  The Department has been involved in the teaching of Mathematics in the Faculties

of Applied Sciences, Integrated Studies, Agriculture and School of Medicine. Owing to the

growth of the Department, the Department was upgraded into a Faculty named Faculty of

Mathematical Sciences in 2009. The Faculty currently runs six programmes namely:

Mathematics, Financial Mathematics, Mathematics with Economics, Computer Science,

Statistics and Actuarial Science.

The Wa campus is where majority of our students are based presently. The six prevailing

academic programmes on this campus are being run under three faculties in Integrated

Development Studies, Planning and Land Management, and Education, Law and Business

Studies with most students in the faculty of Integrated Development Studies. Both M.Sc. and

MPhil programmes are also offered. Wa Campus during 2010/2011 Matriculation, 4,878 fresh

students were formally initiated into the University’s community to undertake various course at

the under Graduate and Post Graduate level. A major problem according to Reverend Professor

Abraham Berinyuu, Dean of the campus aside inadequacy of infrastructure is that landlords are

demanding huge rent advances from the students did not even have simple facilities like toilet,

water and electricity in the houses they were renting out to the students and lecturers.

3.3 Brief History of Wa

Wa has been inhabited for several hundred years, first by Lobi and Dagaare people, and then by

Islamic scholars and traders who settled there in order to participate in the trans-Saharan trade.

These newcomers adopted the Dagaare language and to some extent simplified its grammar, as

well as incorporating numerous loan words from Hausa. The name of the town means 'come' in

the Waali language. Wa also holds the mortal remains of Sir Ekum Ferguson, the British-Fante

who worked to bring the north under British Jurisdiction as well as that of Babatu, a notorious

slave raider well known for his raids in this region during the late and early 19 century. Wa is the

capital of the Upper West Region of Ghana and is the main city of the Wala people. The majority

of the inhabitants are Muslim. It is the seat of the Wa-Na, the Paramount Chief of the Wala

traditional area. Features of the town include several mosques, the Wa-Na Palace, a museum and

a nearby hippopotamus sanctuary. The town serves as a transportation hub for the northwestern

37

part of Ghana, with major roads leading south to Kumasi, north to Hamile and Burkina Faso, and

northeast to Tumu and the Upper East Region.

3.4 Location and Size of Wa

Wa is the capital which is located in Upper West Region under Wa Municipality. It shares

boarders with the following settlements - to the north by Kperisi, south by Kpongu, east by Busa

and to the west by Charia. It lies between 10° 4′ 0″ N, 2° 30′ 0″ W. Figure 3.1 shows the map of

Wa indicating the location of UDS and the various residential clusters used in analysis.

Figure 3.1: Map of Wa and UDS

Source: Adopted from Wa Municipal Assembly (2011)

38

3.5 Geo-Physical Characteristics

3.5.1 Physical Features

The land is generally undulating with height between 180-1300m above sea level. Drainage in

the Wa is of the dendrite type. Wa has several water bodies which are smaller that serves as

sources for water using housing construction. Most of the rivers and small streams over flow

their banks during the raining seasons causing havoc to homes and other property especially in

the peripheral locations and waterlog areas. The floods also make these parts of the Wa

inaccessible. The rivers and their courses dry up during the dry season but offer still great

opportunities for bricks molding for new local house construction.

3.5.2 Climate

The climate is tropical continental equatorial type, which prevails throughout the northern part of

Ghana. Temperatures are high all-year, ranging between 15°C-45°C. The temperatures are

lowest in December/January, while the highest occur in March/April. The average annual and

average monthly temperatures are 21°C and 38°C respectively. The high temperatures cause

roofs to get heated during the day time and make room hot at night. The humidity is therefore

very low, less than 50 per cent during most times of the year. As in any other part of the West

African Sub-region, the Wet South-West Monsoon and the Dry North-East Trade Winds are the

two major prevailing winds that influence the climatic conditions in Wa. As a result of the rather

interior location of Wa, it is more under influence of the Dry North-East Trades Winds than the

Wet South-West Monsoon Winds blowing from the Gulf of Guinea. The homeless are the much

affected group during this period.

The rainy season in Wa is a single rainfall regime (May-October) compared to the double

maxima rainfall pattern experienced in the southern parts of Ghana. Is rainfall however cause

disasters like floods that make people homeless. The other half of the year is very dry when Wa

comes under the influence of the Dry North-East Trades Winds which is popularly called the

Harmattan. The Harmattan is characterized by cold, dry dusty weather during the night becoming

hot and very dry during the day occurring between November and April each year. The average

annual rainfall is about 1,200mm/year and they are torrential, erratic and stormy. This nature

causes houses to collapse.

39

3.5.3 Vegetation

The vegetation is guinea savannah, depicted by isolated woodlands, short thick trees, shrubs and

grasses of varying heights. The collection of trees cater for the domestic requirements wood for

construction fuel wood, charcoal and wood for the construction of kraals and fencing of gardens.

The tall grasses are for the thatching of roofs and short shrubs provide for animal fodder. These

serve as sources for raw material like wood for construction.

3.5.4 Geology and Soils

Wa is mostly underlain by pre-cambrian rock, granite and metamorphic rock types. The soils are

mostly the savanna ochrosol, savanna glycol and ground water lateritic type. These soil types are

used in construction of new housing.

3.6 Demographic Characteristics

The estimated population of Wa for 2010 is 96,818 with an annual growth rate of 1.7%. Thus,

Wa population growth rate is lower than the national growth rate of 2.6%. The population

structure has a sex ratio of 100 males to 108 females. The population is youthful comprising

47% (between 0-14 years), 49% between 15-60 years and 4% over 60 years old.

3.7 Culture

The major ethnic groups in the region fall under the broad generic categories of the Mole -

Dagbon (75.7%) and Grusi (18.4%). The major languages of the region are Dagaare, Sissali,

Wale and Lobi. There are three major religious groupings in the Region, Christianity (35.5%),

Islam (32.2%) and Traditional religion (29.3%). Cultural practices of the people are syncretic in

nature. Islam has a great influence on the lives of the people. One of the fallouts of this influence

is that women are hardly included in decision-making.

3.8 Household Composition and Structure

For the purpose of this study, households are classified based on people living together under the

same house keeping arrangement with a recognized head. The average household size in Wa is

5.9 persons which is greater than the regional household size of 7.2 persons. This is attributed to

preferences for large families as source of labour, early marriages and practice of extended

family concept.

40

3.9 Household Structure

Heads of household constitute 6.6 percent of households in Wa which is lower than the regional

figure of 12.5 percent. This is due to the large household size in Wa. On average the composition

of a typical household in Wa comprise 1.1 adult males; 1.4 adult females, 2.1 children and 1.3

seasonal migrants.

3.10 Household Headship

The head of a household is generally the person identified by members of household as the one

responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the household, including the exercise of authority

over household resources. The proportion of household members who are heads of households is

6.6 percent. This is less than both the regional (12.5percent) and national (18.3 percent) figures.

3.11 Economic Characteristics

The three major occupations in Wa are Agriculture and related work, Sales work (5.2%),

Production, and Transport Equipment work (12.1%). Together, the three account for 89.5 per

cent of the workforce in Wa, with the highest proportion (72.2%) in Agriculture. The substantial

lack of formal sector, office-based bureaucratic occupations, is reflected in the fact that

administrative and managerial capacity is extremely limited in Wa, accounting for not more than

0.2 per cent in any district. Clerical and related workers make up 1.6 per cent of occupations in

Wa. The proportion unemployed constitutes 15.0 per cent, which is higher than the national

figure of 12.5 per cent.

3. 12 Housing Characteristics

Residential houses which include any type of shelter used as living quarters such as huts, or

group of huts, kiosks, enclosed compound, cargo containers, tents. These are structurally

separate and independent places of abode such that a person or a group of persons can isolate

themselves from the hazards of the climate such as storms, rain or the sun. Wa has an estimated

16,516 houses and a household size of 5.9 persons. Using the assumption that every household is

to one housing unit or average household per house of 3.5 (Ghana Statistical Service 2000) this

gives a housing deficit of 39,012 housing units. Renting and sharing is the only ameliorating

factor which constitute 17.6 per cent and Rent-free (6.9 per cent), however, people using houses

owned by household member constitute 74.8 per cent.

41

CHAPTER FOUR

ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF DATA

4.1 Introduction

Various actors in rental housing make their well-worn path on intervention depending on their

perception of housing development. According Blair (1973) administrators take the measure of

the problems with their cost yardsticks; entrepreneurs claim the build houses better, cheap and

attractive than local authorities. Planners seek practical solution and a balanced view. Scholars

speak of the unanticipated perils of planning actions and strive to humanize decision making.

Community activists and social workers, the new clergy of the planning game, become heated

and wax lyrical about the plight of the homeless and the poor. Interestingly, politicians pledge

everything to everyone.

This dichotomy in perceptions relegates to the background, their approaches and interventions to

housing development. It is within these contradictions that the chapter seeks to analyze the

perception of landlords and the expectation of renters in a housing satisfaction model using

cluster analysis method. Analyses are made within clusters and their relative differences and

similarities between them and the entire sample size are established. Clusters as per this study is

a group of relatively homogeneous cases or observations. The homogeneity is with regards to the

type of residential class and average distance from campus within each cluster is similar. These

clusters are shown in table 3.1.

Table 4.1 Residential Clusters

S/N Cluster Description C1 Bamahu, SSNIT and their environs Where the permanent campus is located

(Middle class)C2 Sombo, Kpaguri, Kambali residential Were the temporal campus was located

(Middle class)C3 Jahan, Nurses quarters, T.I Amas and their

environsHigh class residential area

C4 Kabannye, Zongo, Limanyiri, Nayiri and their environs

Low class residential area

C5 Water Village, Dobile, Dori, Air strip and their environs

Middle class residential area

Source: Author’s construct, 2011

41

42

4.2 Students and Landlords Characteristics

4.2.1 Sex Composition

Currently, we live in a society that has over the years regarded the innate characteristics of sex as

one of the clearest legitimisers of different rights and restrictions both formal and informal.

While the legal sanctions that uphold male dominance are being eroded for the past century and

more rapidly in the last 20 years, the heavy weight of traditions combined with the effects of

socialisation still works powerfully to reinforce sex roles that are commonly regarded as of equal

prestige and wealth. There has being an increasing concerns by the international community on

the disproportionate participation of the sexes in say education, policies, governance, religious

activity, employment among others. As per this study, sex composition varies within the clusters

and that of the entire population. Table 1 shows sex composition of students in UDS.

Table 4.2: Sex Composition of Students

Gender C1 (%) C2 (%) C3 (%) C4 (%) C5 (%) ALL (%)Male 40 65 55 60 70 58Female 60 35 45 40 30 42Total 100 100 100 100 100 100Source: Field Survey, January 2011

Form table 4.2, males represent 58 per cent of the entire population while females represent 42

per cent. However, the male dominance occurs in all clusters expect C1 (Bamahu, SSNIT and

their environs) where the females dominate the student population in that zone. As described in

4.1, that cluster in the closest to campus. The sex ratio is 74 females to 100 males as against the

regional figure of 92 males to 100 females according to Ghana Statistics Service 2000. In view

of security, and other risks, females prefer to stay closer to the campus that their male

counterparts.

With regards to landlords, sex composition shows that, as much as 70 per cent are males and 30

per cent are females. Within, the clusters, however, the situation varies. Table 4.3 shows the sex

composition of landlords in Wa.

43

Table 4.3: Landlords Sex Composition

Gender C1 (%) C2 (%) C3 (%) C4 (%) C5 (%) ALL (%)Male 50 75 100 100 50 70Female 50 25 - - 50 30Total 100 100 100 100 100 100Source: Field Survey, January 2011

From table 4.3, cluster 1, has equal distribution of sexes in houses ownership. This is because,

that cluster is closer to the original campus where all potential investors are competing for space

to build new houses. In other places like, Sombo, Kpaguri, Kambali Residential (C2), the males

outwit the females’ in house ownership, while in Jahan, Nurses Quarters, T.I Amas and their

environs (C3) and Kabannye, Zongo, Limanyiri, Nayiri and their environs (C4), males are

dominant. This translates into and overall situation of males’ dominance with regards to house

ownership. A relationship between marital status and sex composition of landlords shows that as

much as 70 per cent of female landlords are widows. This indicates that, they acquire their

houses through the death of their husband and hence, this justifies why females has less

ownership. The situation in 2000 Population and Housing Census, is that 85 per cent of landlords

are males in Upper west Region. The trend so far with regards to this study is even reducing,

hence attributed to the continuous education and eradication of the belief that females can own

certain social and economic assets.

4.2.2 Age Distribution

Age has of late, gained a profound impact on societies and occupies a core area of increasing

attention for policymakers. Nevertheless, as age distribution shifts upward, societies must

reorient themselves to ensure that persons of all ages, including growing numbers of older

persons, have the means or the support needed to maintain a decent standard of living. Major

issues of nutrition, sanitation, medicine, health care, education, knowledge and economic well-

being in general have impact on age distribution. The demographic transition in Ghana currently

involves rejuvenation of the age distribution as the proportion of children rises because of

increased survival at younger ages and rise in fertility levels, hence, increase in median and mean

age. The otherwise of the case raised above is seen in the age structure of students and landlords

in Wa. According to the survey, all students within 15-24 and 25-34 age cohorts. Table 4.4

shows the age distribution of students by clusters.

44

Table 4.4: Age Distribution of Students

Age C1 (%) C2 (%) C3 (%) C4 (%) C5 (%) ALL (%)15-24 90 85 90 75 65 8025-34 10 15 10 25 35 20Total 100 100 100 100 100 100Source: Field Survey, January 2011

It can be inferred from table 4.4 that majority (80 per cent) of the students are within the age

cohort 15-24. The situation runs throughout all the clusters with a mean age ranging between 20

years to as high as 23 within the clusters. However, the entire mean age of students is 20.5 years.

With regards to age distribution of landlords, as much as 40 per cent are between age cohorts 45-

54 with fewer (15 per cent) between 25-34 years. The mean age of landlords in Wa is 48 years.

Table 4.5 shows the age distribution of landlords.

Table 4.5: Age Distribution of Landlords

Age Frequency Percentage25-34 3 1535-44 3 1545-54 8 4055-64 6 30Total 20 100Source: Field Survey, January 2011

Age-sex disaggregation has become a salient issue in recent literature. Concerns raised among

others include: participation and empowerment, fighting neglect and abuse, labour supply and

productivity growth, changing consumption patterns, savings, poverty and income security,

universal access to social services, sustainable pensions systems and health and long-term care.

Gender-age disaggregation provides basis from which these concerns can be inferred. In this

regards, table 4.6 shows the age-sex distribution of students.

45

Table 4.6: Age-Sex Disaggregation of Students

Cluster Age Sex Total (%)

Male (%) Female (%)

C1 15-24 44 56 100

25-34 - 100 100

C2 15-24 59 41 100

25-34 100 - 100

C3 15-24 61 39 100

25-34 100 - 100

C4 15-24 46 53 100

25-34 100 - 100

C5 15-24 62 38 100

25-34 86 14 100

ALL 15-24 54 46 100

25-34 84 16 100

Source: Field Survey, January 2011

From table 4.6, cluster 1, has much females than males and this is due to its closeness to the main

campus, hence girls seek closest distance to campus in view of security and transportation. In the

other clusters, however, the proportion of males is greater than females and majority are within

the age cohort 15-24. With regards to the entire sample size, the student within 15-24, as much as

54 per cent are males and 46 per cent are females. For cohort 24-34, majorities (84 per cent) are

males and 26 per cent are females. This disaggregation is due to the fact that there are many

males on campus as well as in the sample than females. The situation of landlords is not far

different, table 4.7 show the gender disaggregation of landlords cross classified by age groups.

46

Table 4.7: Age-Sex Disaggregation of Landlords

Age Sex Total (%)

Male (%) Female (%)

25-34 100 - 100

35-44 100 - 100

45-54 63 37 100

55-64 50 50 100

Source: Field Survey, January 2011

The age-sex disaggregation shows that, some landlords prefer renting a particular sex or age

group with ethnically and religious considerations. This situation affects the perfection of rental

housing market through manipulations that can subsequently bring disequilibrium in the market.

4.2.3 Religion

Religion has great effects on rental housing in certain places around the country. The issues of

religion are sometimes used as basis for renting houses to people since it is believed that people

of the same religious affiliation can live in peace and harmony and enforcement of security.

Pertinent to this study, an assessment of students and landlord religious affiliations gives an

indication of the preference of tenants. The study identified only two religious affiliations of

students. In view of this, table 4.8 shows the religious affiliation of students.

Table 4.8: Religious Affiliation of Students

Religion C1 (%) C2 (%) C3 (%) C4 (%) C5 (%) ALL (%)Islam 25 40 25 55 55 40Christianity 75 60 75 45 45 60Total 100 100 100 100 100 100Source: Field Survey, January 2011

From table 4.8, Bamahu, SSNIT and their environs (C1), Sombo, Kpaguri, Kambali Residential

(C2) and Jahan, Nurses Quarters, T.I Amas and their environs (C3) have many Christians than

Muslims. This is because the types of residential areas are at the peripheral and peri-urban area

where many natives of Wa are not staying. In Kabannye, Zongo, Limanyiri, Nayiri and their

environs (C4) and Water Village, Dobile, Dori, Air Strip and their environs (C5), however,

Muslims are more than the Christians because those areas are noted to be the original settlement

47

of Wa and dominated by Muslims. In this regards, most of the students are natives of Wa. For

the entire sample, 40 are Muslims and 60 per cent are Christians. Though Wa, in noted to be

dominantly a Muslim community, the influx of students from other regions that are Christians

outnumber the Muslims. This is justified by a cross classification of religion over students

origins. Table 4.9 shows the relationship between religion and origin.

Table 4.9: Religion-Origin of Students

Cluster Religion Natives Total (%)

Wa (%) Others (%)

C1 Islam - 100 100

Christianity 13 87 100

C2 Islam 12 88 100

Christianity 8 92 100

C3 Islam 40 60 100

Christianity 7 93 100

C4 Islam 10 90 100

Christianity - 100 100

C5 Islam 36 64 100

Christianity - 100 100

ALL Islam 20 80 100

Christianity 7 93 100

Source: Field Survey, January 2011

From table 4.9, for Bamahu, SSNIT and their environs (C1) for instance, of those that are

Muslims, none is native of Wa and for those that are Christians, 13 per cent are natives of Wa

and 87 per cent are from other districts and regions. With regards to landlords, 65 per cent are

Muslims and 35 per cent are Christians. Out of the landlords, 70 per cent are natives of Wa of

which 79 per cent are Muslims and this indicates the dominance of Muslims in house ownership.

4.2.4 Ethnicity

Ethnicity has a great influence on the lives of the people. One of the fallouts of this influence is

on women and ownership of houses. Cultural practices of the people are syncretic in nature. As

48

much as 8 different types of tribes were identified among students. Table 4.10 shows the

distribution of ethnicity of students.

Table 4.10: Ethnicity of Students

Ethnicity C1 (%) C2 (%) C3 (%) C4 (%) C5 (%) ALL (%)Waali 15 20 5 30 20 18Dagbani 15 20 15 5 15 14Sissala - 5 - - - 1Grusi 15 10 25 5 10 13Akan 40 25 35 20 25 29Ga 10 - 5 - 5 4Ewe 5 - 5 5 5 4Frafra - 20 10 35 20 17Total 100 100 100 100 100 100Source: Field Survey, January 2011

From table 4.10, the dominant ethnic group is Akan, which represent 29 per cent of the student

population and the least is Sissala which indicating 1 per cent. The clusters that are however, a

native dominates, have majority being the Northern ethnic groups such as Waali, Dagdani and

Frafra. These scenarios are seen in cluster 4 and 5.

4.2.5 Marital Status

The study indicates that only two marital statuses are identified among students, as much as 92

per cent of students are single and only 8 percent are married. Only Kabannye, Zongo,

Limanyiri, Nayiri and their environs (C4) and Water Village, Dobile, Dori, Air Strip and their

environs (C5) have students that are married and his areas are noted to places of permanent

natives of Wa. With regards to landlords, majority (65 per cent) are married people. Figure 4.1

shows the marital status of landlords.

49

Figure 4.1: Marital Status of landlords

Single Married Divorced Widowed0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

20

65

105

Marital Status

Percentage

Source: Field Survey, January 2011

From the analysis of students’ and landlord demographic characteristics, it can be said that there

are gender and ethnical discrimination in rental housing market which are of economic

importance and implications. First, if students from other regions find it difficult to find a rental

apartment, then this affects potential labour mobility since students and immigrants cannot find

shelter and consequently employment and welfare in Wa can decrease. Secondly, discrimination

on the basis of gender and ethnical differences could result in students having to relocate in less

attractive neighbourhood segregations. This leads to security, sanitation and transportation

problems that affect rental housing market outcomes such as affordability. Finally, the

segregation of students at various clusters could also have welfare consequences that cannot be

managed by school authorities other than if all were staying at campus.

4.3 Rental Housing Characteristics

4.3.1 Housing Typology and Age

Various types of houses are identified in Wa. Students are left with a choice to make in relations

to other factors such as affordability. Table 4.11 shows the residential housing types cross

classified by clusters that students use.

50

Table 4.11: Housing Typology for Students

Type C1 (%) C2 (%) C3 (%) C4 (%) C5 (%) ALL (%)Compound house

55 80 35 80 75 65

Detached 5 10 15 5 - 7Semi-detach - 5 5 5 10 5Storey building

35 - 40 10 5 18

Flat 5 5 5 - 10 5Total 100 100 100 100 100 100

Source: Field Survey, January 2011

From table 4.11, places that are closer to campus are mostly storey buildings and this is indicated

in Jahan, Nurses Quarters, T.I Amas and their environs (C3) and Bamahu, SSNIT and their

environs (C1) where 40 per cent and 35 per cent of the students live in storey buildings

respectively. This is because the proximity to campus makes the cost of land around the

immediate surroundings of campus high. In order for landlords to maximize rent on land, they

build upwards. In other clusters, however, compound houses are dominantly used by students,

for instance in Kabannye, Zongo, Limanyiri, Nayiri and their environs (C4) and Water Village,

Dobile, Dori, Air Strip and their environs (C5) where 80 and 75 per cent of students live in

compound houses. This is because those places are low and middle class residential areas of Wa.

In general assessment, as much as 65 percent seek residential accommodation in compound

houses since it is the dominant housing type in the region (65 per cent, Ghana Statistics Service

2005). This is backed by the supply side of landlords, where as much as 70 per cent of houses in

the market available for renting are compound houses.

The houses in the rental market have various age categories and that shows the direction of urban

development in Wa. The ages range as low as one year to as high as 20 years. Much as 50 per

cent is between 6-10 years old. The average age of housing in the market is 10.25 years. All the

houses around campus are between 1-5years and this indicates direction of urban growth.

4.3.2 Room Occupancy Rate

Students in rental houses either live in single rooms, chamber and hall or flats. Much as 91 per

cent live in single rooms and this is due to the compound houses system that is sub-divided into

many single room and hence the dominant housing type in Wa. Also, 6 per cent live in chamber

and halls and 3 per cent live in flats. In view of cost, security and availability of rooms, one or

51

more students live together. Table 4.12 shows that number of students per room in the various

clusters.

Table 4.12: Number of Students per Room

Number C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 ALL 1-3 14 20 12 16 18 804-6 5 0 8 2 2 177-9 1 0 0 2 0 3

Total 20 20 20 20 20 100Source: Field Survey, January 2011

In table 4.12, the least number of students per room is one to as high as 9 persons. In all the

clusters, however, majority are between 1-3 persons per room. The average occupancy rate in

the clusters range as low as 2 persons per room to as high as 3.2 persons per room. Bamahu,

SSNIT and their environs (C1) and Jahan, Nurses Quarters, T.I Amas and their environs (C3)

have the highest occupancy rates of 3 and 3.2 persons per room respectively. This is due to their

closeness to campus, hence students will prefer rooms at that locations irrespective of the

number of people in these rooms. Clusters far away from campus have low occupancy rates of 2,

2.5 and 2.3 persons per rooms as in Sombo, Kpaguri, Kambali Residential(C2) , Kabannye,

Zongo, Limanyiri, Nayiri and their environs (C4) and Water Village, Dobile, Dori, Air Strip

and their environs (C5) respectively. The average occupancy rate for the entire clusters is 2.7

persons per room rather than the United Nations standard of 1.5 persons per room. This is

implies shortage of accommodation for students in Wa. The trend can lead to increase in rent of

rental houses, health implications due to congestion and extortion of students by landlords.

4.3.2 Materials Used

Landlords’ offerings in the rental market only in terms of materials used for construction of walls

in Wa include landcrete, sandcrete, wattle and daub, mud and wood. Interestingly, students tend

to choose houses of durable quality materials. The kind of materials used therefore is a major

criterion for students in choosing rooms. Students only rent place build of sandcrete and

landcrete where as much as 80 per cent and 20 per cent students live in houses made of these

materials respectively.

52

In term of material used for roofing, 90 per cent live in houses made of aluminum and 10 per

cent made of Iron sheets. This shows the quality of houses students want to live in due to

security purposes.

4.3.4 Housing Facilities and Services

Housing facilities that students use among other include bathroom, toilet, kitchen, storeroom,

water and electricity. The availability or otherwise of these facilities and services varies in their

conditions be it good, fair or in a poor state. Table 4.13 shows the availability and conditions of

services and facilities the students use.

Table 4.13: Housing services and Facilities

Facility Availability (%)

Condition (%)Good Fair Poor

Bath 95 50 40 10Toilet 54 50 30 20Kitchen 47 52 29 19Storeroom 30 43 20 36Water 71 63 28 9Electricity 100 82 12 6Source: Field Survey, January 2011

In table 4.13 above, 95 per cent of the students assert that their houses have bathrooms. Also all

residential houses that students use have electricity. This implies that the availability of certain

services and facilities determines the residential choices of students. In terms of their housing

needs in general, students will prefer houses with at least four of these facilities thus – bath,

water, toilet and electricity. This is because, in all cases, more than half the student population

asserts the availability of these facilities in their residential homes.

4.3.5 Accessibility of Housing Facilities

The availability of the facilities and services further raise concerns on the nature of accessibility

to them. In view of time constrains, student prefer houses with certain facilities that can be

accessed within a limited time frame. It assessment is done through the use of waiting times to

access services and facilities. Figure 4.2 shows the waiting times for various facilities within

specific time frames.

53

Figure 4.2: Waiting Time

1-5mins 6-10mins 11-15mins 16-20mins0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

8072

23

3 2

71

12

5

12

68

12

1

19

Bath (%)Toilet(%)Water (%)

Source: Field Survey, January 2011

In figure 4.2, majority of the students wait between 1-5 minutes before using a facility. The

highest accessible facility is bathroom, where 72 per cent can use it by waiting within five

minutes. The least accessible facility is water. This implies poor and inadequate water supply in

Wa. The average waiting time for bathroom is 4.8 minutes, 5.9 minutes for toilet and 6.5 minutes

for water. These averages show the highly accessible facility to be bathroom and water to be the

least. With a room occupancy rate of 2.7 persons per room, it will take 13 minutes for all

students in one room to bath before school, 15.9 minutes for toilet and 17.6 for water. The

waiting time is based on the assumption that they are more than one household in the house

using the same services and facilities. This waiting time in accessing facilities can affect students

in their daily activities such as going early for lectures.

4.3.6 Housing Conditions

The condition of housing is also an important factor that determines students’ choice and

residential locations. This is with regards to sanitation, risk features such as exposed foundations

and cracked walls. From the perspective of students, figure 4.3 shows the various housing

conditions observed in their residential rental homes.

54

Figure 4.3 Housing Conditions

Exposed Foundation

Cracked Wall Leaking Roof Poor Sanitation 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

14 12 9

39

86 88 91

61

YES (%)NO (%)

Source: Field Survey, January 2011

In figure 4.3, as much as 88 per cent of houses do not have cracked walls, 91 per cent do not

have leaking roofs and 86 per cent do not have exposed foundation. The commonest housing

problem is, however, poor sanitation. This is due to poor waste disposal systems, poor drainage,

inadequacy of toilet and sanitary facilities. Students are compelled to live in such places because

of inadequacy of rooms in Wa. The residential cluster noted for poor sanitation is Kabannye,

Zongo, Limanyiri, Nayiri and their environs (C4), where most inhabitants of Wa live. Since

supply is perpetually low, landlords worry less about tenants leaving, causing little incentive to

maintain the property.

4.4 Residential Housing Stock and Housing Needs Assessment

As per the study area, Wa has a population of 96,818 people, 16,516 houses and a household size

of 5.9 persons. Using the assumption that every household is to one housing unit or average

household per house of 3.5 (Ghana Statistical Service 2000) this gives a housing deficit of

39,012 housing units hence renting and sharing is the only ameliorating factor which constitute

13.3 per cent (UN-HABITAT 2010) of housing stock in Upper West Region.

With the influx of students, the population increases every year. The university has five halls of

residence for students namely: Liman, Cardinal Dery, Jubile, Royal and Upper West Hall. Each

hall is a two storey building of 36 rooms with an occupancy rate of four persons per room. The

55

total number of students accommodated is 725. The number has been constant still 2008 where

the halls were commissioned for use while the student population has been increasing. Table

4.14 shows the trend on enrolment and accommodation.

Table 4.14 Enrolment and Accommodation

Year First Years Total Students No. Accommodated

2005 801 - 55

2006 950 - 55

2007 1,242 - 115

2008 1,888 4,881 725

2009 2,583 6,663 725

2010 3,165 8,878 725

Source: Office of Dean of Students, UDS, Wa Campus (2011)

From table 4.14, as at 2010 admission, only 22.9 per cent of the first years could be

accommodated by the campus halls. The remaining 77.1 per cent (2440 students) need additional

610 rooms to accommodate them thus assuming an occupancy rate of four per room. The

relationship between enrolment and accommodation is shown in figure 4.4.

Figure 4.4: Trend of Accommodation

500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 35000

100200300400

500600700800

f(x) = 0.337756213936469 x − 198.335132988454R² = 0.808955732171801

Trend of Accommodation

No. of First Years

No.

Acc

omm

odat

ed

Source: Field Survey, January 2011

56

The figure shows that, correlation coefficient is 0.809 indicated that 81 per cent of students

accommodated depends on the enrolment level. However, in the past three years, enrolment was

increasing with accommodation been constant. This shows that there is no relationship between

enrolment and accommodation in the last three years as shown in figure 4.5 below.

Figure 4.5 Past Three Years Enrolment and Accommodation

1,800 2,000 2,200 2,400 2,600 2,800 3,000 3,200 3,4000

100200300400500600700800

f(x) = 725R² = 0

Number Accommodated

No. of First years

No.

Acc

omm

odat

ed

Source: Field Survey, January 2011

The figure shows that number of students accommodated is independent hence has no

relationship with enrolment level. This is because the number of rooms available for the past

three years is constant.

The university authority charge GH¢270 per student for rooms provided which other universities

like KNUST charge GH¢350 per student. Authorities would wish landlords in Wa to charge

between GH¢200 and GH¢270 for single rooms and between GH¢300 and GH¢400 for chamber

and halls. The authorities wish also rental houses should at least have electricity, water, toilet

and security.

57

4.5 Rent

4.5.1 Yearly Rent Charges

Yearly rent paid by students varies with respective to type of rooms. The type of rooms

identified include, single room (12m×13m), chamber and hall and flats (living room, bedroom

with bath and toilet). As much as 91 per cent use single rooms, 6 per cent use chamber and halls

and 3 per cent use flats. The yearly rent students pay varies and ranges between GH¢100 to GH

¢700. Of those that use single rooms, 46 per cent pay between GH¢201-300 as yearly rent. The

average rent for single room is GH¢269.With regards to chamber and hall, majority (33.3 per

cent) pay between GH¢301-400 with an average rent been GH¢334. The less patronized rooms

are flats, which have an average yearly rent of GH¢417.

The yearly rent, however, varies between clusters. Those far away from campus have different

characteristics likewise those closer to campus. For instance Bamahu, SSNIT and their environs

(C1) where the permanent location of the campus is has an average rent of a single room been

GH¢298 which is slightly higher than the average of the entire study area. This is attributed to

the closeness to campus. Also, residential locations far way form campus have average rent

lower than that of the entire study area. For instance, Kabannye, Zongo, Limanyiri, Nayiri and

their environs (C4) has an average for single room being GH¢230. This situation reflects in the

room occupancy rate and housing facilities. For instance Bamahu, SSNIT and their environs

(C1) have a high room occupancy rate of 3, and all houses have basic services (water, toilet,

bathroom, electricity, storeroom, and kitchen). This results in rent pegged at GH¢298 for single

rooms. The variation in yearly rent is due to location, type of room and access to basic services.

The market forces of demand and supply, especially of land is the basic factor that influencing

variation in rents values

From the perspectives of landlords, of those that rent out single rooms to students, 60 per cent

receive between GH¢201 to GH¢300 as yearly rent. The average rent received by landlords for

single room is GH¢226. This is less than the actual amount (GH¢298) students pay to landlords

for single rooms. This is because, rental housing market in Wa has other players such as the

middlemen. These middlemen will take higher than the actual amount the landlords will take and

that constitutes their profit. With regards to chamber and hall, majority (55 per cent) received

58

between GH¢301-400 and on an average of GH¢356. Similarly, the difference exist as students

pay GH¢356 and landlords receive GH¢334.

4.5.2 Factors that Influence Rent

Various factors influence rent levels in Wa. According to the survey, cost of production and

maintenance of houses, demand, location, level of services and facilities and category of renters.

Landlords take advantage of the influx of student, increase in population coupled with slow

growth of housing development to peg rent on the basis of demand representing 45 per cent and

category of renters representing 20 per cent of landlords. Landlords look at the category of

renters available thus student, civil servants and natives and prefer to rent to students since they

have ready cash to pay. This is because, as much as 50 per cent prefer to rent to students.

On the demand side, increase in student population and the inability of the university authority to

accommodate all students, landlords peg rents on this basis. This rent is peg on “take it or leave

it”. Students are compelled because housing in short supply. Relationship between a landlord and

a student most often put the former in a stronger bargaining position. This is because the

provisions of houses are expanding at rates slower than the rate of growth of Wa’s population

thus creating a wide margin between demand and supply of housing infrastructural facilities and

services. Other factors include location which influences 15 per cent of landlords in pegging rent.

Locations which are close to campus have high rents than distanced areas. For instance Bamahu,

SSNIT and their environs (C1) where the permanent location of the campus is has an average

rent of a single room been GH¢298. locations far way form campus have average rent lower than

that of the entire study area for instance, Kabannye, Zongo, Limanyiri, Nayiri and their environs

(C4) has an average for single room been GH¢230.

Another factor is the level of services and facilities offered by landlords. As much as 15 per cent

of landlords are influenced on the basis of services and facilities. This services and facilities

include water, toilet, bathroom, electricity, storeroom, and kitchen. The study shows that houses

without water supply has an average rent of GH¢150.5 which is far lower than the averages in

the various clusters for single rooms. All houses that have water, toilet, bathroom, electricity,

storeroom, and kitchen have average rent of GH¢269 for single rooms. The cost of production

59

and maintenance of houses constitutes 5 per cent of landlords’ perception of pegging rent. Of

these people 100 per cent do maintenance of their houses every year.

4.5.3 Rent Advance Payment

The Rent Control Act 220 of 1963 makes it clear, among other things, that landlords can only

charge 6-months rent advance and succeeding rents are due every six months. As much as 48 per

cent of students do advance payment and 52 per cent do not. This is why landlords prefer to rent

to students first before other renters. From the perspective of landlords, however, 55 per cent of

landlords request for advance payments whilst 45 per cent do not request for advance payment.

This implies that rent will form a major component of students’ expenditure and has effects on

the actual amount for other needs. The inability of students to meet rent advance payment often

results to unlawful ejection and utility payment problems.

4.5.4 Rent Revision and Housing Maintenance

Rents are revised to reflect current market situations. Students report that 89 per cent of landlords

revise rents every year, 10 per cent every two years and 0ne per cent every three years. With

increasing demand and low supply of housing, rents are revised upwards with an average

increment of GH¢50.

On the contrary, 65 per cent of landlords report that they revise rent every two years, 35 per cent

annual and 5 per cent every three years. Students whose rents are revised annually are those

closer to campus due to demand for houses closer to campus. For instance, of those students,

majority (29 per cent) live in Bamahu, SSNIT and their environs (C1) which is the closest to

campus. Landlords that mostly revise rents every two years have their houses far away from

campus.

4.6 Transfer Money and Expenditure

Students monthly transfer money for expenditure ranges at an average low of GH¢50.5 of which

67 per cent receive that amount and to average high as GH¢650.5 of which 2 per cent receive

that amounts. The mean average monthly transfer money to students is GH¢125.5.

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With regards to expenditure, students spend on food, clothing, health, water and sanitation,

transportation, energy (cooking and lighting) and remittance. Table 4.15 shows the expenditure

components and amount spent.

Table 4.15: Monthly Expenditure

Item Lowest (GH¢) Average (GH¢)

Highest (GH¢)

Food 10.5 40 130.5Clothing 5.5 9.7 35.5Energy 3 6.3 13Health 3 3.6 13Transportation 0 3.3 18Water and Sanitation 0 1.6 11Remittance 0 1.6 18Rent 4.2 22.4 54.2

Total (GH¢) 26.2 88.5 293.3Source: Field Survey, January 2011

From table 4.15, the highest expenditure component is food. On the average monthly expenditure

(GH¢88.5), is represents 45 per cent. The next highest component of students’ expenditure is

rent which represents 25.3 per cent of total average monthly expenditure. However, certain

expenditure components as at the time of this study were zero. For instance, students that walk to

school do not incur cost and likewise student who did not remit any part of their money as at the

time of study. For food, 34 per cent spend below the lowest monthly amount of GH¢50.5. The

highest expenditure on food is GH¢130.5 of which 5 per cent of the students spend monthly.

The relationship between income and expenditure indicates that, all other things being equal,

students with low income will have low expenditure. In that regards, student who have lowest

monthly income of GH¢50.5 will spend GH¢26.2 hence with a potential savings of GH¢24.3.

Students on the average can save GH¢37 thus GH¢88.5 out of GH¢125.5. At the highest level,

savings can be GH¢357.2. These savings figures give a trend that the higher the student’s

income, the more the potential of saving. Figure 4.6 shows the relationship between income and

expenditure with expenditure being dependent.

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Figure 4.6 Income and Expenditure Relationship

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 7000

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

f(x) = 0.424877192982456 x + 18.9463333333333R² = 0.987983905851205

Monthly Income and Expenditure Relationship

Income (GH¢)

Exp

endi

ture

(GH

¢)

Source: Field Survey, January 2011

From figure 4.6, the correlation coefficient (r) is 0.993 which indicates the degree of association

between income and expenditure. As it is closer to one, the relationship between income and

expenditure is strong. However, the coefficient of determination (r²) is 0.988 (98.8 per cent)

which indicates that 98.8 per cent of variation in expenditure (Y) can be explained by changes in

income (x). The remaining 1.12 per cent can be attributed to other factors such taste and

preference, inflation and interest rates.

As per this study, one key component of expenditure is monthly rent. Students’ income can

influence their residential accommodations. The degree of relationship or otherwise is show is

figure 4.7 below. Analysis is based on single rooms monthly rent since it is the dominantly used

by 91 per cent of students.

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Figure 4.7: Monthly rent and Income

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 7000

10

20

30

40

50

60

f(x) = 0.0749473684210526 x + 6.28533333333333R² = 0.937407748723686

Monthly Rent and Income Relationship

Income (GH¢)

Ren

t (G

H¢)

Source: Field Survey, January 2011

With rent (Y) being dependent on income, there is a strong association with income since

correlation coefficient (r) is 0.968 and almost close to one. The coefficient of determination (r²)

is 0.937 indicating that 93.7 per cent of change in rent is attributed to change in income. Students

in this regards changes residential accommodations with change in their incomes. The higher the

income goes up, the high tendency to move for more costly residential accommodations. The

remaining 6.3 per cent is attributed to other factors such as increase in production and

maintenance of houses, demand for houses, vacancy rate, and change in residential location.

4.7 Housing Location and Transportation

4.7.1 Factors that Influence Locations of Students

The influx of students into Wa creates intense pressure on the spatial structure of the urban

systems such as on tertiary education, housing and transportation. Residential pattern is a product

of internal and external forces in relation to demand and supply of rental houses in Wa. The

study identified certain factors that students take into consideration in locating their residential

accommodations. Table 4.16 shows the various factors that influences students’ residential

accommodations.

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Table 4.16: Locational Factors

Factor Percentage (%)

Location 22Accessibility to Services 29Housing Typology 6Peace and Security 3Affordability 20

Total 100Source: Field Survey, January 2011

Students are concern about the location of their residential homes. This is in view of distance and

transportation issues and security. For instance, of those that give priority to location in

choosing their residence, 40 per cent are located in Bamahu, SSNIT and their environs (C1)

which is the permanent location of UDS. Accessibility to basic services such as university

facilities, water and sanitation facilities, electricity and other energy supply systems,

transportation routes are key issues of consideration to 29 per cent of students. For instance, 34

per cent these students live at the temporal location of UDS where most campus facilities such as

library and reading rooms are still located. Another key factor of concern to students is

affordability. Students try to relate their utility derived against the price paid for room they

intend to or occupy. In this regards, the level of incomes of students is central to this decision. Of

those students 30 per cent live in a low class residential area thus Kabannye, Zongo, Limanyiri,

Nayiri and their environs (C4).

4.7.2 Distance to Campus

In view of students living at various locations, the distances to campus varies within their

residential clusters. Majority (54 per cent) travel 1-3km to get to campus. The highest distance

ranges 7-9km of which 18 per cent of students cover daily. The average distance covered daily

by students is 3.9km. Of all students in Bamahu, SSNIT and their environs (C1), 95 per cent

travel 1-3km to get to school. This shows that Bamahu, SSNIT and their environs (C1), is the

closest to campus. Also of those that travel 1-3km daily to get to campus, 35 per cent live in

Bamahu, SSNIT and their environs (C1). Students that pay yearly rent of GH¢300-400, 5]]4 per

cent travel 1-3km to get to campus. Again, of all those that travel 1-3km to get to campus, 52 per

cent pay rent of GH¢300-400 yearly. However, 60 per cent of student that pay less than or equal

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to GH¢100, travel as far as 7-9km. This is an indicative of the relationship between distance and

rent. Students far away from campus are likely to pay less rent than those closer to campus. In

high residential areas like Jahan, Nurses Quarters, T.I Amas and their environs (C3), however, of

those that pay GH¢300-400, 93 per cent travel 4-6km to get to campus. The relationship between

distance and rent paid is illustrated with the graph in figure 4.8 below.

Figure 4.8: Rent and Distance Correlation

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90

50

100

150

200

250

300350

400

f(x) = − 50 x + 473.333333333333R² = 0.935003411030963

Yearly Rent and Distance Relationship

Distance (Km)

Ren

t (G

H¢)

Source: Field Survey, January 2011

In figure 4.8, there is a negative relationship between distance and rent. The closer the distance

to campus is, the higher the rent and vice versa. As much as 93.5 per cent of rent is determined

by distance to campus (location). The remaining 6.5 per cent is determined by other factors

including the level of services and housing facilities. In view of this, students that stay far away

from campus pay high transportation cost.

4.7.3 Means of Transport

The commonest means of transport to campus is the use of commercial vehicles which represents

40 per cent of students’ patronage. Walking represents 30 per cent, 25 per cent for the use of

motor bicycles, 4 per cent for bicycles and 1 per cent use private cars. Bamahu, SSNIT and their

environs (C1), being the closest to campus, 45 per cent of students there walk to campus. Also,

of those in Water Village, Dobile, Dori, Air Strip and their environs (C5), 50 per cent use public

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commercial vehicles because it is far from campus. A relationship between means of transport

and distance covered indicates that, of those the walk to school, 90 per cent cover a distance of 1-

3km. Out of those that cover 1-3km daily, 50 per cent walk to school. From this, it can be

deduced that the shorter the distance to campus, the more likely student will take the least cost

transportation means. This is because all those that walk to campus have zero expenditure for

transportation as at the time of the study.

4.8 Market Outcomes

4.8.1 Rent Affordability, Satisfaction and Choice

Students might huddle into various residential locations for needs sake (accommodation), and the

landlords cling to quest for the sake of profit. But in each civilization, as it advanced, those who

could afford it chose to match utility against price. Rent affordability as per this study is

deduced as per cent of students monthly income used on rent which should not be more than

proportion on income spent on food. This is because food is the major component of students’

expenditure. Other expenditure components are assumed to be less than the expenditure on food.

In view of this, using the average monthly income of GH¢125.5 and average monthly rent of GH

¢22.4, the proportion of rent is 18 per cent of monthly income whilst food represents 32 per cent.

Rent in this regards in affordable since it is less than the proportion on income spent on food.

UN-HABITAT (2003) defines ‘affordable housing’ as a home which costs less than 30 per cent

of a family’s income, in either rent or a monthly mortgage, then students rent on housing is

affordable since it represents 18 per cent of monthly income. The higher students’ monthly

income is, the lower the percentage and the vice versa.

Students are however not satisfied with this situation. As much as 41 per cent wish to have paid

less than GH¢100 for yearly rent of room they occupy. Also, 62 per cent regards current rent

levels in Wa as being high and as much as 75 per cent are not satisfied with the rent they pay in

relation to the services and facilities that landlords offer. Of those that are not satisfied with rent

against the level of services, 53 per cent wish to have paid less than GH¢100 instead of GH¢200-

300 they currently pay. Out of the students that are not satisfied with rent against the level of

services, 81 per cent sees current rent levels being high.

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From the perspective of landlords however, 65 per cent consider current rent levels as being

moderate, 25 per cent sees it as being high and 10 per cent consider to cheap. As against that

background, 85 per cent are satisfied with the rent they receive as against the services and

facilities they offer and 15 per cent wish to increase further increase rent. The tendency there is

the choice of renter to offer that new price tag to. Landlords that wish to rent to students

constitute 50 per cent. Reasons attributed to this choice of renter among others including:

Students are most in need for room

Students have ready cash to pay on the “take it or leave it market”

Students can be controlled

Their duration of stay is shorter hence returns to investment are high

There are no rules and regulations renting to students since tenancy agreement are not

always signed

Household formation rate is low as compared to other tenants such as civil servants and

natives

Rent revision for students can be done with ease

Students are always ready to make advance payment if requested

4.9 Rent Control

4.9.1 Awareness of Rent Control Departmnet

The RCD is created under Rent Control Act 220 of 1963 and sought to restrain the hand of a

wicked, callous landlord who would demand for rent advance for a longer period from a poor,

unsuspecting would be tenant. RCD is responsible for monitoring and establishment of

guidelines relating to the regulations of landlords/tenants relationships to create enabling

environment for socio-economic development of Wa. However, awareness of the mere existence

of such a Department in Wa is low by those often affected negatively concerning rent issues. In

the survey, 66 per cent of the students are not aware of the operations and existence of RCD.

Also, only 55 per cent of landlords are aware of the existence and operation of the Department.

This implies that rent cases are resolved at home which leads to landlords extorting students

because high demand for accommodation.

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4.9.2 Capacity of RCD

The Department in Wa Municipality currently operates under the Municipal Assembly though

not one of the statutory sub units of the assembly. This is because the department has not office

space to facilitate its work. In assessing its capacity for performance, key issues include; human

resource, logistics and materials, financial capacity and legal framework and policy. The

following table 4.17 shows the situational analysis.

4.17 Capacity of RCD

Item Required Existing BacklogPersonnel 5 1 4Desktop Computers 5 0 5Printers 3 0 3Photo copier machine 1 0 1Office Desk 5 1 4Vehicle 1 0 1Internet access NoSource: RCD, Wa Municipal Assembly (2011)

In table 4.17, in terms of human resource requirement, the department required 5 persons

(Director, Accountant, Secretary, Messenger and a Cleaner). Director should have a minimum

educational qualification of a first Degree, Accountant and Secretary should have a minimum of

HND and Messenger and a Cleaner should be at least DBS holders. The existing situation is that,

only one person is at post (Director). RCD has no office space in the Municipality hence shares

with other department in the Assembly. Financial capacity of the Department indicates that, the

flow of the consolidated fund to the national entity under the Ministry of Water Resources,

Works and Housing is low. There is no regular flow of funding from the DACF to the

department at the local level. This makes it difficult to undertake programmes such as awareness

raising on their functions and mandate, sensitization programmes. It is also unable to buy

stationery. The department has no rent control policy in place to guide its operations.

4.9.3 Reported and Resolved Cases

At the time of study, data indicates that as at March 2011, only 55 cases were reported. Out of

this, 90 percent of complainants are students and 10 percent are landlords. Resulting from this, 3

cases where resolved and 15 case led to ejection of students by landlords. The nature of problems

is as a result of rent advance payments, inadequate maintenance of houses on the part of students

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and landlords, inadequate housing facilities, regular rent revision and payment of utility bills.

Data of previous years could not be obtained due to poor records keeping through the filling

system, lack of office space and other logistics and stationery.

4.9.4 Landlords Associations

In order to strengthen rent control in Wa, identifiable associations such as Wa Landlords

Association is key to resulting pertinent landlord/tenant disputes. 55 percent of landlords

recognized the availability and operations of such landlords association. Out of these people, 15

percent are members to the association. The inadequacy of awareness has effects on rent levels.

For instance of those that are not aware these associations, 85 percent request for rent advance

payment. The consequence of inability to meet advance payments leads to ejection.

4.9.5 Problems of Rent Control

The key problems of rent control in Wa according to RCD of Wa includes:

Inadequacy of proper documentation on the part of landlords for instance tenancy agreements, hence difficult to handle rent cases;

Reviewing of rent advance payment by landlords at a time the agreement is not yet expired

Notices without copies of ejection of tenancy agreement been attached by landlords; Inadequate co-operation from landlords Landlords associations are ineffective Landlords fix rent other than collaborating with RCD

4.10 Problems of Rental Housing

4.10.1 Problems of Rental Housing

From the perspective of students, the following are the problems they encounter in their

residential accommodations:

Sanitation: The nature of housing facilities is of concern to students. Facilities such as toilets and

bathroom are potential sources of disease outbreak in Wa. Refuse dumps are left unkempt, bush

surrounding as also to grow. This situation serves as breeding places for mosquitoes and other

dangerous species like snakes.

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Peace and Security: Students in rental houses are not also secured since attempts on robbery keep

increasing each day. Some locations are noisy for students to student.

Congestion: Due to the increasing nature of demand for accommodation by student in relation to

short supply, students live in 3 or 4 in one living room. This congestion creates inconvenience

amongst them and can easily leads to spread of disease faster.

Housing facilities and Services: The accessibility to housing facilities such as toilet and

bathrooms are difficult since one has to waiting for an average time of 4.8 minutes to access a

bathroom and 5.9 minutes for toilet. This implies that in a house with average number 15 persons

per house, a student is compelled to wait for 72minutes to access a bathroom and 89 minutes for

toilet. This implies that students must wakeup this mush time earlier to access these facilities and

prevent lateness to school

Rent advance Payment: landlords demand necessary advances even when the years are not

approaching. The rent advance payment is a problem to students as it affects their budget and

sometimes leads to ejection from the house.

From the perspectives of landlords, high cost of maintenance is a key problem because students

to not use facilities wisely. This is because students have the idea that they have paid for

everything. Due to the high cost of maintenance, students indirectly bear the cost.

Landlords and students fail to pay utility bills such as water and electricity. The use of high

electricity consumption gadgets such as cookers and kettles results in high bills that other

students within such appliances are unwilling to pay likewise the landlords. This leads to

disconnection from major utilities.

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CHAPTER FIVE

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Introduction

Many parts of Wa currently manifest a diversity in development where many different people

live. These people and residential zones are different not only in their origins, but also in terms

of their residency status. Within zones, there is also great diversity in relation to ethnicity,

language, religious practice, household composition, employment experiences and educational

qualifications. In Wa, there are local variations in a community’s composition. These factors

affect a person’s place and type of accommodation. Population diversity also places new

challenges on rental housing sector, particularly in relation to students. It is within this purview

that the chapter seeks to highlight major finding with regards to university students and rental

housing in Ghana, taking UDS Wa campus as reference point. The chapter also gives policy

recommendations for development.

5.2 Findings

The findings are categorized under the various centrals themes contained in the conceptual

framework and research objectives.

Students and Landlords Demographic Characteristics

Rental discrimination on the basis of gender, religious and ethnical differences exist between

students and landlords. They believed that people of the same affiliations can live in peace and

harmony and enforcement of security. These affiliations give an indication of the preference of

tenants. For instance 65 percent of landlords are Muslims and 90 percent out of this prefer

Muslim students. Female landlords give preference to girls. Students are compelled to allocate in

less attractive neighbourhood segregations due to discriminations. This leads to security,

sanitation and transportation problems that affect rental housing market outcomes such as

affordability.

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71

Rental Housing Characteristics

The commonest housing type is compound housing (65 percent) of which 91 percent of students

use single rooms with room occupancy rate of 2.7 persons per room. Houses are built of

sandcrete blocks with aluminium roofing. Toilet is the less accessible housing facility with an

average waiting time of 5.9 minutes.

Residential Housing Stock and Housing Needs Assessment

The campus has five halls that accommodated 725 students yearly. As the halls are constant in

number over a period of time, accommodation by the campus halls does not depend on

enrolment levels. The authorities charge GH¢270 per student using campus halls of residence.

The remaining 77.1 per cent (2440 students) need additional 610 rooms to accommodate them

thus assuming an occupancy rate of four per room.

Authorities would wish landlords in Wa to charge between GH¢200 and GH¢270 for single

rooms and between GH¢300 and GH¢400 for chamber and halls. The authorities wish also

rental houses should at least have electricity, water, toilet and security.

Rent

Average yearly rent is GH¢269 and demand is the key factor that affects rent. Rents are revised

annually with an average increment of GH¢50. Rent advance payment is compulsory upon

students who want their room secured.

Income and Expenditure

Average monthly income is GH¢125.5 with food component constituting greater portion of

students expenditure. Income is positively correlated with expenditure with a correlation

coefficient of 0.993. The higher students’ income is, the more their expenditure and the vice visa.

Rent and income are also positively correlated with correlation coefficient of 0.968. The more

students’ income is, the more tendency to go for an accommodation with high rent and the vice

visa.

Housing Location and Transportation

Residential pattern is a product of internal and external forces in relation to demand and supply

of rental houses in Wa. Students’ residential distribution in space is much influenced by

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accessibility to services and facilities. There is a negative relationship between rent and

transportation distance. The closer the distance to campus is, the higher the rent and vice versa

since coefficient of correlation is 0.967. The commonest means of transport to campus is

commercial vehicles (40 percent of students).

Market Outcomes

Rent on housing is affordable since it represents 18 per cent of monthly income of students. The

higher students’ monthly income is, the lower the percentage and the vice versa. Students are

however not satisfied with this situation. As much as 41 per cent wish to have paid less than GH

¢100 for yearly rent of room they occupy. Also, 62 per cent regards current rent levels in Wa as

being high and as much as 75 per cent are not satisfied with the rent they pay in relation to the

services and facilities that landlords offer.

Rent Control

RCD has no office space to facilitate its work. There is no regular flow of funding from the

DACF to the department at the local level. The department is institutional capable of handling its

mandates as shown in situational analysis in table 4.16. Landlords associations are ineffective in

rent control issues and resolving of tenancy disagreements.

Problems of Rental Housing

Sanitation: The nature of housing facilities is of concern to students. Facilities such as toilets and

bathroom are potential sources of disease outbreak in Wa. Refuse dumps are left unkempt, bush

surrounding as also to grow. This situation serves as breeding places for mosquitoes and other

dangerous species like snakes.

The accessibility to housing facilities such as toilet and bathrooms are difficult since one has to

wait for an average time of 4.8 minutes to access a bathroom and 5.9 minutes for toilet. This

implies that in a house with average number 15 persons per house, a student is compelled to wait

for 72minutes to access a bathroom and 89 minutes for toilet. This implies that students must

wakeup this mush time earlier to access these facilities and prevent lateness to school

Landlords demand necessary advances even when the years are not approaching. The rent

advance payment is a problem to students as it affects their budget and sometimes leads to

ejection from the house.

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5.3 Recommendations

RCD should be given well furnished office space and recruit four additional staff (Accountant,

Secretary, Messenger and a Cleaner). The flow of funds for implementation of programmes

should be channeled directly to agencies.

The university Estate Office should go into partnership with landlords association in rent

negotiation for students. The authority should identify all landlords that wish to rent houses to

student, assess the housing services and facilities and negotiate for students to occupy such

houses. University management should also reduce yearly enrolment to range between 1,000 and

1,500 students.

To order to solve issues of accessibility and extortion form landlords, site and services schemes

should be provided by the Assembly in collaboration with the university authority for private

sector investment in hostels around campus.

RCD and the Assembly should organize sensitization programmes for landlords associations on

the legal framework regarding rent advance payment and revision as contained in the Rent

Control law (1986) PNDC 138.

Ghana should prepare and adopt a rent control policy that will serve as a framework for rent

control. The split system should first be used to segregate portions housing market is under rent

control. The tenancy type of rent control policy should be adopted where rent increase is a fixed

percentage, or a fraction of the construction cost index, or a combination of the two

With regards to sanitation and accessibility to housing facilities, new compound house

construction should not be given permit by Town and Country Planning if proposed building has

no provision for toilets, bath, water supply and electricity.

The university authority and the Assembly should negotiate for part of affordable housing

project to be allocated to the school to reduce the accommodation situation.

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5.4 Conclusion

Provisions of t facilities are expanding at rates slower than the rate of growth of the urban

population thus creating a wide margin between demand and supply of urban infrastructural

facilities and services. An average annual delivery of 133,000 units of housing infrastructure is

needed to provide adequate housing within the next twenty years, as against the current annual

delivery of 28,000 units which yields a performance rate of 21 per cent.

The introduction of UDS as a growth pole has effects on access to basic services and facilities

including housing. With existing housing deficit of 39,012 in Wa and slow hostel development

around the campus, it has become imperative to assess students residential accommodation in

such market. Total of 100 questionnaires were administered to students. Institutional

questionnaire for RCD, Municipal Assembly and the university authority were also be

administered.

It was found out that the phenomenal rise in population and size of Wa over the past few years

have manifested in the acute shortage of dwelling units which resulted in overcrowding, high

rents, poor urban living conditions, and low infrastructure services and indeed high crime rates.

Rental housing discrimination on the basis of gender, religious and ethnical differences exist

students and landlords. These affiliations give an indication of the preference of tenants. The

commonest housing type is compound housing (65 percent) of which 91 percent of students use

single rooms with room occupancy rate of 2.7 persons per room. Average yearly rent is GH¢269

and demand is the key factor that affects rent.

Rents are revised annually with an average increment of GH¢50. Average monthly income of

students is GH¢125.5 with food component constituting greater portion of students expenditure.

Income is positively correlated with expenditure with a correlation coefficient of 0.993.

Students’ residential distribution in space is much influenced by accessibility to services and

facilities. There is a negative relationship between rent and transportation distance. Rent on

housing is affordable since it represents 18 per cent of monthly income. Students are however

not satisfied with this situation. As much as 41 per cent wish to have paid less than GH¢100 for

yearly rent of room they occupy. RCD has no office space to facilitate its work. There is no

regular flow of funding from the DACF to the department at the local level. The marked

75

increases in prices for rented accommodation, the poor quality of rented housing and the role of

temporary contracts, combined with the lack of security of tenure, in the circumstances of a tight

housing market, it is the combination of these three phenomena which creates the core problem.

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Hamdi, N. (1995). Housing Without Houses: Participation, flexibility, enablement. London: IT

Publications LTD

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Center for Housing Research Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg,

Virginia

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Korboe D, (1992), Rent-Free Tenure in Urban Ghana: Problem or Solution? , Forum l- 1992

Krugman, Paul (2000). “Reckoning: A Rent Affiars”The New York Times.

Mahama C and Antwi A (2006), Land and Property Markets in Ghana, Royal Institution of

Chartered Surveyors, United Kingdom

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79

APPENDIX I

SURVEY INSTRUMENTS

KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING

FACULTY OF PLANNING AND LAND ECONOMY

DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING

STUDENTS’ QUESTIONNAIRE

TOPIC: UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ RESIDENTIAL ACCOMMODATION AND RENTAL HOUSING IN GHANA: CASE STUDY OF UDS WA CAMPUS

BASIC DEMOGRAPHIC DATA

1. Name of respondent ………………………………………………………………….

2. Sex of respondent (a) Male (b) Female

3. Respondent’s age group (a) 15-24 (b) 25-34 (c) 45-44 (d) 45-54 (e) 55-64

4. Which level are you (a) L100 (b) L200 (C) L300 (d) L400 (e) Postgraduate

5. Which part of Wa is your residence located?

Cluster TickBamahu, SSNIT and their environs Sombo, Kpaguri, Kambali residential and their environsJahan, Nurses quarters, T.I Amas and their environsKabannye, Zongo, Limanyiri, Nayiri and their environs

Water Village, Dobile, Dori, Air strip and their environs

6. What is your religious affiliation? (a) Islam (b) Christianity (c) Traditionalist

7. What is your ethnic affiliation? (a) Wala/Dagaati (b) Dagbani (c) Sissala (d) Grusi

(e) Akan (f) Ga (g) Ewe (h) others specify…………………….

8. What is your marital status? (a) Single (b) Married (c) Divorced (d) Consensual union (e) Widowed

9. Are you a native of Wa? (a) Yes (b) No

80

10. If No where you do come from (a) Within Wa municipal (b) Outside Wa municipal but within Upper West Region (c) outside Upper West Region

HOUSING

11. Are you accommodated by the University (a) Yes (b) No

12. If No, are you accommodated in rental house? (a) Yes (b) No

13. What is the type of housing you occupy (a) Compound house (b) Detached (c) Semi-detach (d) Storey building (e) Flat

14. What is the type of room you occupy? (a) Single Room (b) Chamber & Hall (c) Flat

15. How many are you in your room (a) 1-3 (b) 4-6 (c) 7-9 (d) 10 & Above 10

16. Tick the availability and condition of the following services and facilities in your house

Facility Availability ConditionGood Fair Poor

Bath Toilet Kitchen Storeroom WaterElectricity

17. What is the average waiting time for accessing the following services and facilities?

Facility Time Others 1-5mins 6-10mins 11-15mins 16-20mins

Bathroom Toilet Water

18. Tick any of the following observations in your place of residence

Item Exposed foundation

Cracked walls

Leaking roofs

Unpainted Poor sanitation

Tick

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19. What is the main factor that influences your residential location? (a) Location (b) Accessibility to services and facilities (c) Housing typology (d) Peace and security (e) Affordability

20. What is the distance from your place of residence to campus (a) 1-5km (b) 6-10Km (c) 11-15km (d) 16-20km (e) others specify…………….

21. What is your means of transport to campus? (a) By Foot (b) Bicycle (c) Motor bicycle (d) Private car (e) Public transport

22. Place indicate your monthly income (a) GH¢1-100 (b) GH¢101-200 (c) GH¢201-300 (d) GH¢301-400 (e) GH¢401-500 (f) GH¢501-600 (g) others specify……………………….

23. Place indicate your monthly expenditure by ticking the appropriate category

Item Amount (GH¢)1-100 101-200 201-300 301-400 401-500 501-600 Others

FoodClothing Energy Health Transport Water and sanitation Remittance

24. How much is your yearly rent paid ……………………….

25. How much would you have wished to pay for the room you occupy? ……………………….

26. Are you satisfy with the rent you pay in relation to the services and facilities provided by the landlord/ladies (a) Yes (b) No

27. Is there any arrangement for advance payment (a) Yes (b) No

28. What is your judgment on the rent you pay (a) High (b) Moderate (c) Cheap

29. Who long does your landlord revises rent? (a) Yearly (b) two years (c) Every three year (d) Every four years (e) Others specify…………….

30. Are you aware of the existence and operation of rent control department is Wa (a) Yes (b) No

31. What problems do you face in residential accommodation?

I…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

II…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

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III……………………………………………………………………………………………………

IV…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

V…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

32. What attempts have you made to address these issues?

I…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

II…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

III……………………………………………………………………………………………………

IV…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

V…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

33. How can the above problems be solved?

I…………………………………………………………………………………………………….II…………………………………………………………………………………………………….III……………………………………………………………………………………………………IV…………………………………………………………………………………………………..V…………………………………………………………………………………………………

83

KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING

FACULTY OF PLANNING AND LAND ECONOMY

DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING

LANDLORDS QUESTIONNAIRE

TOPIC: UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ RESIDENTIAL ACCOMMODATION AND RENTAL HOUSING IN GHANA: CASE STUDY OF UDS WA CAMPUS

BASIC DEMOGRAPHIC DATA

1. Name of respondent ………………………………………………………………….

2. Sex of respondent (a) Male (b) Female

3. Respondent’s age group (a) 15-24 (b) 25-34 (c) 45-44 (d) 45-54 (e) 55-64 (f) 65 & Above

4. Where is your house located in Wa?

Cluster TickBamahu, SSNIT and their environs Sombo, Kpaguri, Kambali residential Jahan, Nurses quarters, T.I Amas and their environsKabannye, Zongo, Limanyiri, Nayiri and their environsWater Village, Dobile, Dori, Air strip and their environs

5. What is your religious affiliation? (a) Islam (b) Christianity (c) Traditionalist

6. What is your ethnic affiliation? (a) Wala/Dagaati (b)Dagbani (c) Sissala (d) Grusi

(e) Akan (f) Ga (g) Ewe (h) others specify………………………………………

7. What is your marital status? (a) Single (b) Married (c) Divorced (d) Consensual union (e) Never married (f) Widowed

8. Are you a native of Wa? (a) Yes (b) No

9. If No where you do come from (a) Within Wa municipal (b) Outside Wa municipal but within Upper West Region (c) outside Upper West Region

84

HOUSING

10. What is the type of your house (a) Compound house (b) Detached (c) Semi-detach (d) Storey building (e) Flat

11. How old is your house? (a) 1-5 (b) 6-10 (c) 11-15 (d) 16-20 (e) others specify ……………………………..

12. How many habitable rooms are there in the house (a) 1-5 (b) 6-10 (c) 11-15 (d) 16-20 (e) others specify ……………………………..

13. How many households are there in the house? (a) 1-5 (b) 6-10 (c) 11-15 (d) 16-20 (e) others specify ……………………………..

14. Tick the building materials used

Wall Land Crete Sand Crete Wattle and daub

Mud Wood

Roof Aluminum Iron Tiles

15. Tick the availability and condition of the following services and facilities in your house

Facility Availability ConditionGood Fair Poor

Bath Toilet Kitchen Storeroom WaterElectricity

16. Tick any of the following observations in the house

Item Exposed foundation

Cracked walls

Leaking roofs

Unpainted Poor sanitation

Tick

85

17. Indicate how much rent to charge per the following

Item Amount (GH¢)1-100 101-200 201-300 301-400 401-500 501-600 Others

Single roomChamber & hallFlat

18. What is the main factor the influences your level of rent? (a) Cost of production and maintenance (b) Demand (c) Location (d) level of facilities (e) Housing Typology (f) Category of renters

19. Which of the following people would you prefer to rent out your place to? (a) Students (b) Natives (c) Public servants

20. Why the above choice?................................................................................................................

21. Do you accept advance payment (a) Yes (b) No

22. What is your judgment on the rent you pay (a) High (b) Moderate (c) Cheap

23. How long do you often revise your rent? (a) Yearly (b) Two years (c) Every three year (d) Every four years (e) Others specify…………….

24. Within the last five years, which of the following maintenance work do you do?

YearWorks

1 2 3 4 5

RoofPlastering Painting

25. Are you satisfy with the rent you receive in relation to the services and facilities provided (a) Yes (b) No

26. Are you aware of the existence and operation of rent control department in Wa (a) Yes (b) No

27. Are they any landlords/ladies association in Wa? (a) Yes (b) No

28. If yes, are you a member of any landlords/ladies association in Wa? (a) Yes (b) No

86

29. What problems do you face in residential accommodation?

I…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

II…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

III……………………………………………………………………………………………………

IV…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

V…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

30. How can the above problems be solved?

I…………………………………………………………………………………………………….II…………………………………………………………………………………………………….III……………………………………………………………………………………………………IV…………………………………………………………………………………………………..V…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

87

KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING

FACULTY OF PLANNING AND LAND ECONOMY

DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING

UNIVERSITY AUTHORITY’S QUESTIONNAIRE

TOPIC: UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ RESIDENTIAL ACCOMMODATION AND RENTAL HOUSING IN GHANA: CASE STUDY OF UDS WA CAMPUS

1. Name of respondent…………………………………………………………………

2. Position/Title of respondent………………………………………………………….

3. Please indicate the number of students admitted each year and the number that was accommodated by the university.

Year No. First Years Total Student Population No. Accommodated 200520062007200820092010

4. What attempts have been made to accommodate the remaining student?.....................................

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

5. Will the university be ready to lease out portions of its land on pre-agreed terms and partner with private sector for hostels development (a) Yes (b) No

6. If No Why?....................................................................................................................................

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

7. How much does the university levy per student in university halls of residence………………..

88

8. How much would the university wish landlords to charge per

Single room…………………….

Chamber & hall……………………..

9. How can the response in question 8 be enforced?.........................................................................

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

10. What is the university judgment on the rent landlords charge? (a) High (b) Moderate (c) Cheap

11. What strategies can the authority develop to partner with private sector to improve accommodation situation?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

12. What specific facilities and services will the authority want all landlords to have in their houses for students?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………....

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………...

89

13. What problems do students face in rental housing?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

14. What attempts have been made to solve them? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

15. How can the above problems be solved?

I…………………………………………………………………………………………………….II…………………………………………………………………………………………………….III……………………………………………………………………………………………………IV…………………………………………………………………………………………………..V…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

90

KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING

FACULTY OF PLANNING AND LAND ECONOMY

DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING

RENT CONTROL DEPARTMENT QUESTIONNAIRE

TOPIC: UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ RESIDENTIAL ACCOMMODATION AND RENTAL HOUSING IN GHANA: CASE STUDY OF UDS WA CAMPUS

1. When did rent control start operation in Wa?………………………..

2. Assessment of capacity. Indicate the items needed by the department, the current situation and the required number of such items

Item Current situation RequiredStaff

3. Number of cases reported and resolved

Years Cases reported Cases resolves 200520062007200820092010

4. How should rents be determined…………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

91

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

5. Who should determine rents level in Wa?……………………………………………………..

............................................................................................................................................................

6. Who currently determines rent levels in Wa……………………………………………………..

7. How long should rent levels be revised………………………………………………………….

8. Are they any recognized landlords association in Wa that the Department work with (a) Yes (b) No

9. What policies and legal frameworks in Ghana regulate rental housing?

I…………………………………………………………………………………………………….II…………………………………………………………………………………………………….III……………………………………………………………………………………………………IV…………………………………………………………………………………………………..V…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

10. What problems do you face discharging duties?

I…………………………………………………………………………………………………….II…………………………………………………………………………………………………….III……………………………………………………………………………………………………IV…………………………………………………………………………………………………..V…………………………………………………………………………………………………..10. How can the above problems be solved?I…………………………………………………………………………………………………….II…………………………………………………………………………………………………….III……………………………………………………………………………………………………IV…………………………………………………………………………………………………..V………………………………………………………………………………………………….

92

KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING

FACULTY OF PLANNING AND LAND ECONOMY

DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING

MUNICIPAL ASSEMBLY’S QUESTIONNAIRE

TOPIC: UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ RESIDENTIAL ACCOMMODATION AND RENTAL HOUSING IN GHANA: CASE STUDY OF UDS WA CAMPUS

1. Name of respondent……………………………………………………………………………

2. Position/Title of respondent………………………………………………………………….

3. Is the assembly aware of any rent surge for UDS students in Wa? (a) Yes (b) No

4. If Yes, what has the assembly done about the situation……………………………………….

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

5. What are the mandates of the assembly in rent control?...............................................................

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

6. Will the assembly be ready to invest into hostel development? (a) Yes (b) No

7. Will the assembly be ready to partner with private sector in hostel development? (a) Yes (b) No

8. If yes what will be the mandate of the assembly in this regards?................................................

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

9. What is your judgment on the rent students pay (a) High (b) Moderate (c) Cheap

93

10. How much will Assembly want landlords to charge as rent for the following?

Single room……………………

Chamber & hall………………

11. Give solutions that can solve students exploitation by landlords……………………………..

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………