A real estate marketing company has launched an app to track recalcitrant landlords and their agents for prosecution following the government's directive to landlords not to charge more than six months' rent advance.
The "FirstKey" app developed by Ownkey, a verified real estate marketplace, is to work in collaboration with the Rent Control Department to enrol all identified landlords and their agents onto it, monitor their activities and ensure that tenants are not shortchanged.
The Chief Executive Officer of OwnKey, Ibrahim Ilyas, told the Daily Graphic last Sunday in Accra that the success of the app would be contingent on information from tenants.
He acknowledged that not all landlords could be identified immediately but said the exercise would succeed with the support of accommodation agents and prospective tenants.
The company, which won the Prop-Tech Innovation Company of the Year at the 18th Ghana Property Awards, said it would seek an audience with the Rent Control to make it mandatory for all landlords to hook up to the App.
"We have also proposed that no landlord should charge more than GHS2,500 a month, no matter how luxurious the accommodation is and its location.
"All these are to protect the tenants and ensure that they are not exploited," Mr Ilyas said.
Recall
It will be recalled that on March 17, 2026, President John Dramani Mahama urged tenants to report landlords demanding more than the legally permitted six months' rent in advance, and called for closer collaboration between government, labour, and the private sector to address Ghana's housing challenges directly.
The FirstKey app is, therefore, seen as one concrete example of the kind of private-sector contribution the President was asking for: an affordable housing platform built around the same Act 220 standard.
Ghana's Rent Act 1963 (Act 220) has capped advance rent at six months for over 60 years, but weak enforcement, driven in part by both tenants and landlords being reluctant to use the Rent Court, allowed demands of one to two years' advance rent to become common practice in a market shaped by a roughly 1.8 million-unit housing deficit.
Following the President's address, the Rent Control Department confirmed active enforcement from April 1, 2026, with penalties of up to six months' imprisonment or a GH₵3,000 fine for violating landlords.
How app works
On how the app works, Mr Ilyas said every listing on the FirstKey App is checked against the asking price and the six-month advance rent maximum before publication, removing the need for a tenant to identify or negotiate down an overpriced listing after encountering one.
A small, fully refundable anti-scam deposit is required to unlock full listing access, closing the second major risk in Ghana's affordable rental segment -- ghost listings and viewing-fee scams that rely on free, disposable accounts.
