Residential Property Management in Bolgatanga Municipality, Ghana

Ghana is faced with a huge housing deficit of at least 1,000,000. Governments, private individuals and the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association over the years have been making efforts to provide housing units for the populace especially the urban dwellers. In the light of these housing challenges, governments have resorted to borrowing heavily with its attendant high interest rates to build affordable houses for the citizenry. Observations in our communities however showed that not much or nothing at all is done to maintain the existing housing stock and yet building more houses seemed to be the concentration of our governments and individuals. This work therefore investigated the extent of management of both state and private residential facilities in the Bolgatanga Municipality in Ghana. Findings included low level of land documentation, absence of planned maintenance schedules, occupants mostly burdened with maintenance responsibility, among others. Suggestions made included the need for attitudinal change, among others. This work is expected to re-orient the state and property owners as well as Estate Officers to improve the maintenance of their real estates.

Autorentext

Mr. Maxwell Kwotua Petio is a Land Economist trained at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana. Since 2008, he has been the head of the Development Office of the Bolgatanga Polytechnic in the Uppper East Region of Ghana, ultimately overseeing infrastructural developments and property /estate management.