Cabinet has approved the draft Rent Bill and recommended it for consideration to Parliament following extensive engagements.
Parliament would also commence its engagements on the Bill, culminating in its successful enactment.
The Minister for Works and Housing, Mr Francis Asenso-Boakye, disclosed this at a press briefing in Accra on Sunday.
He pointed out that the regulation of the rental housing market in Ghana was an issue that has dominated the housing space for decades.
"As I have mentioned in recent times, the existing law was passed by Parliament Fifty-Nine years ago, and therefore, its relevance has been outlived by the current population growth and urbanization, housing availability, rental rates, housing redistribution and eviction controls, amongst several other attendant difficulties, that have engulfed the housing sector," he stated.
He asserted that the review of the Rent Bill was intended to safeguard the rights of vulnerable tenants who have been outpriced by the uncontrollable hikes in the cost of renting accommodation.
Mr Asenso-Boakye further noted that the review would remove inherent constraints and offer incentives to encourage private sector investment in the rental housing sector.
"This will ensure that property developers are not discouraged from investing in the housing industry by rigid rent control mechanisms, which suppress chargeable rent to artificial levels.
"Furthermore, the Rent Bill provides that a landlord who demands the payment of rent in advance for more than one month in a monthly tenancy, or a tenancy which is shorter than one month, or more than one year in a tenancy, which exceeds one year, commits an offence, clearly identified offence in the Bill," he noted.
The Minister urged all well-meaning Ghanaians to take an active interest in these engagements and contribute to their implementation.
That, he said, could be achieved by expressing their opinions and expectations to their respective Members of Parliament, as the House was about to consider the Draft Bill.
