IMANI Africa has called for a market-oriented approach to Ghana’s rental sector, arguing that current regulation emphasizes revenue collection over supporting a healthy housing market.
According to IMANI, the Rent Control Department collected GHS447,480 in non-tax revenue (IGF) for 2024, which “represents a statistical zero when compared to the multi-million Cedi disbursements of the National Rental Assistance Scheme.” The think tank said this financial limitation has pushed the department “into a survivalist mindset where every administrative action feels more like a strategy for revenue generation than a genuine effort to facilitate a healthy housing market.”
IMANI said the problem is partly institutional. “By calling it a department of control, the state signals an intent to fix prices and suppress market forces rather than manage a growing resource,” it wrote. The legacy framework, IMANI added, “treats landlords as adversaries to be policed instead of partners in urban development.” While the Rent Bill of 2023 proposes a rebranding to the Ghana Rent Authority, the think tank said “the underlying philosophy must shift from policing landlords through certifications to building the structural foundations of a transparent market.”
A central recommendation is the creation of a comprehensive rent register. IMANI said: “Instead of the current focus on certification, which often feels like a gatekeeping hurdle designed for revenue collection, a robust database would offer transparency to all parties.”
The organization added that “potential tenants should be able to search for available units by district and community without the friction of a digital sign-in wall,” and that “when the data is public and the recoverable rent is visible, the market can self-correct because the information asymmetry that allows for exploitation is removed.”
IMANI also called for the professionalization of Rent Officers, saying they “should be more than just general civil servants” and instead “should be qualified property evaluators and chartered valuation specialists who understand the complex relationship between property value and maintenance costs.” Without such expertise, the think tank said, “the determination of rent becomes an arbitrary exercise that discourages property investment” and landlords “will continue to avoid the formal system altogether.”
On rent practices, IMANI noted that while law mandates a six-month advance, “many tenants voluntarily pay more for their own security of tenure and peace of mind.” The think tank said that “in an economy that lacks a seamless monthly rent deduction system for the formal and informal sectors, a lump sum payment serves as a hedge against inflation” and that a market-oriented approach “would recognize these voluntary contracts as a logical response to financial instability rather than a criminal act.”
IMANI also recommended establishing occupancy standards, noting that rooms should not be treated as bottomless vessels for human occupancy. The think tank suggested limits of three people (two adults and a child under six) for a single room, or four people (two adults and two children under six) for a chamber and hall. These standards are intended to ensure that children have sufficient space for healthy development while reducing overcrowding that can accelerate the deterioration of housing stock.
The organization further called for decentralization and inter-agency coordination, recommending that the central government empower district assemblies to manage local rent registers and enforce building standards at the point of construction. By linking the Rent Authority with local governments and the Ghana Standards Authority, the agency could shift from merely reacting to misunderstandings to playing a proactive role in maintaining urban stability.
In all, IMANI’s recommendations emphasize a move toward a data-driven, professional, and transparent rental system that benefits both tenants and landlords and supports sustainable urban development.
