Understanding the norms and difficulties with advance rent payments in Ghana

Figures & data

Figure 1. Regions in Ghana where respondents were drawn from.

Source: Authors’ online survey data (June 2020)

Table 1. Respondents’ demographic profile.

Demographic information	Frequency (n = 362)	Percentage
Gender
Male	212	58.6
Female	145	40.1
Prefer not to say	5	1.4
Mean age (in years)	32.47	-
Marital status
Never married	171	47.2
Married	178	49.2
Separated	5	1.4
Divorced	7	1.9
Widowed	1	0.3
Educational attainment
Tertiary level (Bachelors & Higher National Diploma)	204	56.4
Post-tertiary level (Masters & PhD)	158	43.6
Employment status
Unemployed	42	11.6
Employed	320	88.4
Sector of employment
Private formal sector	162	50.5
Private informal sector	24	7.6
Public sector	127	39.7
Other	7	2.2
Mean monthly expenditure (in Gh¢)	1,500	-

Source: Authors’ online survey (June 2020).

Table 2. Respondents’ housing situation.

Housing situation	Frequency (n = 362)	Percentage
First time living in a privately rented property
Yes	133	36.7%
No	229	63.3%
The mean number of rental houses previously lived in	2.75	-
Signed a tenancy agreement before moving in
Yes	246	68%
No	116	32%
Average household size	4.10	-
Type of housing occupied
Flat/Apartment	152	42.0%
Compound house (Chamber and hall)	69	19.1%
Detached house	51	14.1%
Compound house (Single room)	49	13.5%
Semi-detached house	41	11.3%
The average number of rooms	2.27	-
Number of years rent advance covered	1.93	-
The average length of stay in a rental property (In years)	2.52	-
Found the AR payment difficult
Yes†	212	58.6%
No‡	115	31.7%
Unsure	35	9.7%
Exclusive access to:
Bathroom	334	92.3%
Toilet	328	90.6%
Kitchen	308	85.1%
Storeroom	114	31.5%
Electric metre	271	74.9%
Water	233	64.4%
Mean Monthly Rent (In US$)	94.24	-
Mean Rent Advance (In US$)	2,182.48	-
% Mean Monthly Rent per Total household expenditure	27.29	-

† ‘Yes’ was calculated by combining respondents who scored their AR payment difficulty as 4 or 5 on the five-point Likert scale, while ‡ ‘No’ for those who scored their AR payment difficulty 1 or 2 on the five-point Likert scale.

Source: Authors’ online survey (June 2020).

Table 3. When renters start saving towards paying the rent advance.

When saving towards AR payment starts	Frequency	Percentage (%)
Immediately current AR is paid	76	35.8
One month before the current AR is paid	6	2.8
Three months before the current AR is paid	30	14.2
Six months before the current AR is paid	37	17.5
One year before the current AR is paid	44	20.8
Just about when the AR payment is due	11	5.2
Other	8	3.8
Total	212	100

Source: Authors’ online survey (June 2020).

Figure 2. When savings for AR payment start vs. Median AR paid.

Source: Authors’ online survey (June 2020)