The Ghana Housing Finance Association (GHFA) is advocating the promulgation of a Condominium Law in the country.
The objective is to regulate shared ownership of common areas in high-rise properties, flats and other related issues.
It is also aimed at inculcating the culture of maintenance among unit homeowners of flats.
The development of flats and high-rise properties has become a norm in Ghana, especially in the metropolis as it enables developers to maximise the use of land and space.
However, currently there is no Condominium Law in the country to instil discipline in the housing industry and facilitate the development of more high-rise projects.
The Managing Director of HFC Bank, Mr Asare Akuffo, said it was better late than never to promulgate the Condominium Law to make land use more efficient.
Mr Akuffo, who is also the president of GHFA, was speaking at a dialogue session with members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Works and Housing, to deliberate on the proposed bill on the Condominium Law.
He said the Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) Fund was undertaking an advocacy action to facilitate the draft document to be laid in Parliament.
He noted that apart from the efficient use of land, the law, when passed, would also ensure that property owners contributed towards maintaining their flats, while the formation of property management companies would be encouraged.
Mr Divine Letsa, a partner of Bentsi-Enchill, Letsa and Ankomah (BELA), the Consultant for the project, cited the failure of the mass delivery system by the State Housing Corporation, saying it failed because there was no law to commit unit owners to maintain the flats and create joint ownership of the common areas and facilities in them.
The Condominium Law, Mr Letsa said, would run side by side with the Customary Law or the Common Law, adding that the preparation of the bill was a formidable exercise which must be responsive, forward looking and complement the reforms currently being undertaken in land administration and land use spatial planning.
He mentioned some of the advantages of condominiums as maximisation of land use, convenient location of employment centres, shopping malls and comparatively cheaper properties, noting that with the current housing deficit of 100,000 per year, high-rise multi-unit apartments under a well-structured regime were the antidote.
He therefore stressed the need for condominium regulations to address the issues and also enhance the development of the housing schemes.
The Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Works and Housing, Mr David Tetteh Assumeng, called for more interactions to put the draft bill in shape before it got to Parliament so as to ease the passage of the bill.