Minister tasks regulator to ensure sanity in buying and selling of properties
Minister for Works and Housing, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has urged the Real Estate Agency Council (REAC) to swiftly commence operations to sanitize the real estate industry following the official handover of its new headquarters building.
The move comes after Mr. Oppong Nkrumah’s earlier directive to REAC’s board and management during his first visit to the Agency in February 2024 upon resumption of duty as Sector Minister.
In 2020, Parliament passed the Real Estate Agency Act, 2020 (Act 1047), which established the Real Estate Agency Council (REAC) with the mandate to regulate the real estate sector and ensure fairness and transparency in transactions.
Despite the passage of this legislation aimed at fully establishing and operationalizing the Agency, progress has been slow.
Although the Council has been sworn in, its functions have remained dormant, with its CEO operating from the Ministry of Works and Housing instead of from REAC’s headquarters.
With the new headquarters established, Minister Oppong Nkrumah stressed the urgency for REAC to begin operations.
“To the staff and the Council, I urge you to continue with the same renewed energy and laser focus. No stories, excuses, or explanations.
“Let us deliver and bring relief to the many of our citizens who need our services. Let us make excellence a habit in this agency. Ghanaians will notice and will be proud of us,” the Minister said.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah emphasized that the lack of full operationalization had led to challenges such as uncontrolled pricing, fraud, and high-risk transactions in Ghana’s real estate sector.
The ceremony was attended by prominent figures including the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, Minister in charge of Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah Bonsu, and the Board Chair of REAC, Dr. Kojo Addo-Kuffour, along with other board members of the Council and other well-known dignitaries.
The Ghana Real Estate industry has been without any government supervision for many years, operating devoid of governmental oversight since the advent of Ghana’s Democracy in 1992.
The Lands Commission was introduced under the 1992 constitution to manage public lands and any other lands vested in the President by the Constitution or by any other law and any lands vested in the Commission.
As the real estate industry grew in Ghana, it became evident that the regulations about buying and selling property in Ghana needed an update.
It was a free market where anything goes, leading to serious issues such as skyrocketing property values based solely on location, with little regard for the actual quality of the properties.
Property could be sold by anyone, to anyone, at the seller’s price, without any proper transaction method, as most payments were made in cash.
The establishment of REAC and its new headquarters marks a significant development in regulating Ghana’s real estate sector, aiming to address these longstanding issues and bring transparency and fairness to transactions in the industry.
