Housing Affordability in Urban Ghana: Prospects and Challenges in Asokore Mampong, Kumasi
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Date
2026-02-01
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KNUST
Abstract
Housing affordability had emerged as a critical urban challenge in Ghana, yet empirical evidence at
the sub-city level remained limited. This study examined the dynamics of rental affordability in
Asokore Mampong, a rapidly urbanizing municipality within the Kumasi Metropolis. Using a mixed
methods design, the study integrated survey data from 120 households with qualitative insights
from 10 key informants to assess the prospects and constraints shaping access to affordable
housing. Guided by Shelter Poverty Theory and Institutional Theory, the analysis explored how
income levels, rent structures, cultural tenure systems, and governance inefficiencies interacted to
influence affordability outcomes. By providing one of the few localized, municipal-level assessments
of rental affordability in Ghana, the study offered empirical insights that remain largely absent from
current scholarship. The findings showed that 74% of households spent more than 30% of their
income on rent, indicating widespread shelter poverty. Two-year advance rent payments, agent
exploitation, and weak rent regulation were identified as the most severe constraints. Although compound houses and family-based tenure systems provided partial affordability buffers, these
were increasingly undermined by rising land values, overcrowding, and infrastructural deficits.
Institutional weaknesses, particularly limited enforcement capacity, low public awareness of
housing programmes, and fragmented land-governance systems further restricted affordable
housing access. The paper concluded that affordability challenges in Asokore Mampong resulted
from the combined effects of household-level vulnerability and systemic governance deficits.
Strengthening rent regulation, improving institutional coordination, upgrading informal housing
stock, and expanding financial support for low-income tenants were recommended.
Description
This work is submitted to Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. College of Art and Built Environment, Centre For Settlement Studies, February 4th, 2026.