Managing Director for Ecobank Ghana, Daniel Sackey, has disclosed that one of the demotivators to people owning homes is the 20% initial deposit.
According to him, the initial deposit conundrum has become a worrying phenomenon for potential homeowners in the country.
That notwithstanding, he suggested that workers can tap into their pension fund to make that initial deposit. This, he revealed, will avert the possibility of having to make that home decision when they’re well on their way to retirement.
“We all are aware that one of the major hinderance to people being able to access mortgage is the initial 20% deposit that is required. So, if you’re looking at a house that is even worth GHC100,000 then you need to raise GHC20,000. If you’re talking about $50,000 then you should be able to raise $10,000. So, that initial deposit that is required has always been a barrier for a number of people who want to climb the housing ladder.
“So, we said given that every worker or most workers have access to pensions that they are putting up, we believe that you should not wait until you’re retiring before you’ll be able to access your pension and acquire a house. Why can’t we put our heads together, work with the pension fund trustees and ensure that your pension that is being built up can start working for you from now? That initial 20% deposit that you need to provide can be provided using your pension as collateral. So, it takes away the initial headache where you need to provide this major deposit and quickly brings a lot more people to the market”.
Dan Sackey
Ecobank expresses commitment to helping potential homeowners
He further revealed that his outfit isn’t only committed to helping formal sector workers to own homes in the country. With this, Mr Sackey explained some innovative products the bank will provide to potential homeowners.
“We believe that we should be able to expand the stock of housing available. Our message to every worker is that we can help you realize your dream… we believe that we can also tailor make solutions for the informal sector and just as we are deliberate about some of the things we do, it is time that we become very deliberate about decisions regarding our housing”.
Dan Sackey
On his part, project manager for Cities and habitat fair, Daniel Ohene Aidoo, urged patrons to support its ‘Rent to Own Initiative’.
“We believe that our new towns and cities must breathe. You’re aware how our towns are sprawling… urbanizing very fast and it appears that there’s no solution on how to curb the unplanned urban sprawl. It is why the planned cities extension project has come to stay. As we speak, there are very strong calls all over the country. It’s quite encouraging that a few months ago we had a government department of a neighbouring country wanting to have some insight to what is going on…”.
Daniel Ohene Aidoo
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