Prez Mahama urges tenants to report landlords demanding illegal rent advances

President John Dramani Mahama has issued a strong call for tenants to report landlords who demand excessive rent advances, vowing to enforce sanctions as part of broader efforts to address widespread abuses in Ghana’s rental housing market.

Speaking during a meeting with organised labour at the Jubilee House in Accra on Tuesday, March 17, the President expressed concern over how rising accommodation costs are straining household incomes and limiting access to decent housing.

“Housing is a major problem, and for households, it is consuming their income,” President Mahama stated. “We need to have a national housing dialogue and decide how, between the private sector, government, and labour, we can come together and come up with a social housing policy to make sure that we provide affordable housing for workers to purchase on a mortgage or to be able to rent at a favourable cost.”

The President attributed the persistent demand for exorbitant rent advances to Ghana’s housing deficit, noting that the supply-demand imbalance has created opportunities for exploitation by property owners.

“The reason why the private house owners are taking advantage is because of the deficit in housing,” he explained. “We have the rent court, and we say do not take more than six months of rent advance, but the one who is renting and the house owner are both not prepared to go to the rent court.”

President Mahama urged tenants to utilize existing legal protections by reporting offending landlords, assuring that appropriate sanctions would be applied.

“You can go and report him to the rent court, and we will hold that landlord accountable,” he emphasised.

The President’s remarks come amid mounting public frustration over landlords demanding advance payments of up to two years, despite legal restrictions limiting such demands to six months. The practice has been widely condemned as exploitative and a significant barrier to affordable housing, particularly affecting low- and middle-income earners.

President Mahama indicated that a comprehensive national conversation on housing would be necessary to address structural challenges in the sector, including the development of a social housing policy that balances the interests of tenants, landlords, and the state.