Rent Control Department has only one ‘borrowed’ vehicle

The Rent Control Department nationwide has only one vehicle for the 200-staff-capacity institution.

This was disclosed by the Rent Control Officer, Twum Ampofo.

In an interview with Accra-based Citi FM, Mr Ampofo said the Rent Control Department has received over 2000 complaints of disputes between landlords and tenants from January 2018 to April.

However, they are not well-resourced to handle the disputes brought before them.

Mr Ampofo, said the only vehicle they have was even taken from another department.

“Our staff strength is almost 200. We have only one vehicle borrowed to us from Hydro department and that is our major challenge.”

He added that due to this challenge, their staff nationwide often embark on monitoring exercises “with their own resources.”

“Normally, they [staff of the Rent Control Department] go on the field with their own resources; and we are pleading with the state and any other benevolent organizations to come to our aid,” Mr. Ampofo pleaded.

The Rent Control Department receives thousands of complaints from tenants and is among other things expected to ensure that tenants are not fleeced by house owners and their agents with arbitrary rent increases.

Meanwhile, the government is putting together a new rent bill that will make tenants pay between one month to a year’s rent advance instead of the initial six-months in the current rent law.

Mr Ampofo said the sector Minister is working to ensure the bill is presented before Parliament soon.

“The rent advance at the moment is supposed to be six months and the new law hoping to be passed sooner or later is actually giving us a year. We have prepared the one year advance supposed to be paid by tenants. It starts from one month to one year.”