Lack of funding is gradually affecting the operations of the State Housing Company (SHC), the Ashanti Regional Director of the State Housing Company Limited, Mr Emmanuel Takyi, has said.
The state-owned company, which is responsible for building houses and flats to cushion the accommodation needs of the Ghanaian, has been grappling with funding problems and encroachment on their project sites.
Since its inception in 1956 when it was called Gold Coast Housing Corporation it operated as the main housing development agency of the Government.
In July 1995, the State Housing Corporation was converted to a Limited Liability Company (LLC) and now operates as a fully fledged commercial enterprise.
The Company has, over the years, achieved impressive landmarks in the real estate industry by providing affordable and quality housing estates.
Officials of the company in the Ashanti Region have expressed serious concerns about the level of encroachment and the lack of financial support from Government which they pointed as major challenges hindering their operations.
According to Mr Takyi, his outfit had been able to develop less than 30 out of the 107 hectares of land it acquired from the Lands Commission to build houses for the Ghanaian citizenry.
“The main problem is that out of these 107 hectares of land that we fully paid for and registered at Lands Commission, we have just developed less than 30 hectares. The other problem is that the lands were acquired through customers deposit and therefore most of the customers are also taking us to Court because we have not been able to develop the houses they applied for,” he indicated.
He recounted how SHC suffered litigation from private developers and family relatives who claimed ownership of the lands acquired by the company.
Mr Takyi therefore sought Government’s intervention on addressing the challenges of the company.
Water Resources Works and Housing Minister, Dr Kwaku Agyemang Mensah, who was in the Ashanti Region on a day’s tour said Government had taken note and would work towards addressing the challenges.
He said the Ministry would bring up such issues in an upcoming conference to explore the possibility of accessing funds to support the State Housing Company.