The National Housing Fund (NHF) of Ghana has reduced its mortgage lending rate from 13.5% to 8.4%, a move aimed at making homeownership more accessible to middle-income Ghanaians. This significant reduction was announced by NHF Chief Executive Officer Prosper Hoetu at the maiden National Conference on Housing Finance in Accra on October 7, 2026. According to Hoetu, the Fund had already resumed lending at the lower rate the previous month.
The reduction in mortgage rate is part of the NHF's efforts to address Ghana's housing deficit, which is largely attributed to a financing problem. Hoetu stated that Ghana has one of the lowest rates of mortgage penetration in Africa, standing at just 0.3% of GDP. The majority of housing in Ghana is built through incremental self-financing, a slow process that takes an average of ten years for a family to complete a house.
The formal real estate sector currently meets only about 10% of the country's housing needs. Hoetu argued that the previous 13.5% rate had locked out large numbers of prospective buyers who could not qualify for a mortgage. The NHF's move is expected to open up homeownership to more Ghanaians, particularly those in the middle-income bracket who have been priced out by rising rents.
The rate cut follows a directive from President John Mahama for a GH¢1 billion allocation in the 2027 Budget toward a planned GH¢3 billion National Housing Fund. Mahama has also spoken publicly about his own struggles to find affordable housing as a newlywed, linking it directly to the country's broader housing crisis.
Hoetu disclosed that the NHF has developed a homebuyers database, a multisided digital platform that provides real-time information on housing demand and supply across Ghana. The platform was expected to be showcased to stakeholders at the conference, with feedback sought on how to improve it.
The NHF is a state vehicle set up to expand access to housing finance in Ghana, running the National Mortgage Scheme that lends to prospective homeowners and financing packages for property developers. The Fund's financing available to property developers has also come down from its earlier level to 10.4%.
The response to the revised scheme has already been encouraging, with a significant jump in applications from people who had previously been shut out. The NHF's boldest affordability move in years is expected to have a positive impact on Ghana's housing market, but no further timeline has been given for how quickly the new mortgage rate will be rolled out nationwide or how the planned GH¢3 billion fund will be financed and disbursed.
Key points
- The National Housing Fund has reduced its mortgage lending rate from 13.5% to 8.4% to boost homeownership for middle-income Ghanaians.
- Ghana has one of the lowest rates of mortgage penetration in Africa, standing at just 0.3% of GDP.
- The NHF has developed a homebuyers database to provide real-time information on housing demand and supply across Ghana.
