Private hostel owners near the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) have questioned the legal grounds for the Rent Control Department’s ongoing efforts to regulate accommodation fees charged by student hostels. The owners contend that the Rent Act of 1963 (Act 220) and the Rent Control Law of 1989 (PNDCL 138) do not apply to purpose-built student hostels, which they believe operate under a different regulatory framework.
The Rent Control Department, led by Acting Rent Commissioner Frederick Opoku, has intensified its enforcement campaign targeting private hostel operators near public universities due to concerns over high accommodation costs. This initiative follows reports from students at the National Youth Conference, who described hostel fees as exorbitant, with some citing annual charges between GH₵5,000 and GH₵10,000.
While the hostel owners acknowledge the accommodation challenges facing students, they argue that the approach taken by the Rent Control Department could jeopardise private investment in student housing. They warn that compelling hostel operators to cut their rates or withdraw from the market could further exacerbate the already limited accommodation options available to students.
President of the KNUST Hostel Owners Association of Ghana, Bishop Dr Akwasi Owusu-Bi, has therefore called on the Rent Control Department to follow due process and clarify its jurisdiction.
“In fact, in the first place, we do not operate under the Rent Commissioner. The Rent Commissioner does not control prices above a certain threshold. They were meant for single-room and chamber and hall apartments; they were not meant for such arrangements.
“We don’t operate under tenancy law; we operate under licensing law, and this is agreed upon by the GTA. If we decide to close our hostels, how are the universities going to operate? We can do that because it is our private property,” he said.
Counsel for the association, Michael Gyang Owusu, also accused the Rent Control Department of acting outside its jurisdiction and called for dialogue with hostel operators to resolve the matter.
He argued that the legal framework governing rent was developed at a time when the current model of purpose-built student accommodation did not exist.
“What is missing in all this is the dialogue. Also, it is clear that in the 1960s when the Rent Act was being passed and all the subsequent LIs and EIs, student hostels as they now exist,” he said.
Source: Hafiz Tijani
