The Socio-Economic Conditions of Caretaker Families Living in Uncompleted Houses in the Awutu-Senya East Municipality, Ghana

Although housing is a fundamental human need, many lower income earning groups the world over continue to live in poor housing structures. Due to continuous urbanization in Ghana without a corresponding increase in decent or affordable rental housing, many urban dwellers are compelled to live in uncompleted housing units. Despite the increasing number of caretaker families residing in uncompleted houses in Ghana, there exists little or no well documented evidence of their plights. Consequently, this study was undertaken to assess the socio-economic conditions of families living in uncompleted houses as caretakers in the Awutu-Senya East Municipality of Ghana. The study revealed that about 56% of the sampled respondents earned between GH¢100 and GH¢200 as monthly incomes, while 27% earned between GH¢201 and GH¢400. It was realised that about 39 percent used torch lights for lightening, 31 percent used kerosene lamps and 8 percent used electricity. It was also observed that overcrowding was pervasive among respondents where about 85 percent with a family size of between three and four occupied just a single room while 15 percent with a family size of five or more dwelled in two rooms. In spite of the high overcrowding among respondents, 58 percent had lived in uncompleted houses for more than six (6) years while 42 percent had been occupying uncompleted houses between three and five years in the Municipality. To reduce the incidence of increasing habitation of uncompleted houses in the Municipality, a well-defined and comprehensive integrated system of housing finance should be instituted to enable low income earning households own decent but affordable housing, while pro-poor alternative strategies to mortgage financing arrangements are formulated.