The National Tenants Union of Ghana says Ghana’s growing accommodation challenges are making higher education difficult for many students, especially those from low-income homes.
Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Afternoon Ghana on Thursday, May 7, 2026, Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs, Reindolf Afrifa-Oware, described the country’s housing situation as a full-blown crisis.
“When it comes to housing, we have moved from this housing challenge in Ghana to housing crisis,” he said.
According to him, the country’s rent laws are outdated and difficult to enforce, leaving tenants and students vulnerable to arbitrary rent increases and poor living conditions.
“The law is not functional. The system that has been built, which is the Rent Control Department, is equally almost incapable,” he said, citing inadequate staffing and logistics at the department.
Afrifa-Oware made the comments while discussing rising hostel fees on university campuses and increasing rent charges in Accra.
He said a recent inspection exercise at some student hostels exposed overcrowded rooms and accommodation fees that many students can barely afford.
“In theory, it is illegal because it is overcrowded,” he said.
“How can you give a space eight by four feet and then you have four people occupying this?”
He also criticised hostel operators who require students to vacate rooms during vacations, only for the same spaces to be rented out to sandwich students.
“The space that you have paid for, when school vacates, you pack out everything and that same space is given out to sandwich students,” he said. “That’s thievery.”
The tenant advocate argued that accommodation costs are gradually becoming a barrier to education.
“Housing should support education, but not stand in its way,” he said.
Afrifa-Oware called on government to invest in student accommodation and strengthen the Rent Control Department to enforce existing laws.
He proposed partnerships between government and the private sector to build more affordable hostels around university campuses.
“There are land banks around most of these campuses. Government should engage the private sector to help provide good accommodation for students,” he said.
He also urged tenants to demand tenancy agreements and rent cards from landlords to protect themselves in disputes.
According to him, many tenants are unaware of their rights and are often intimidated by landlords and agents.
“A lot of people don’t know their rights, so they are always bullied around,” he said.
