A house for the nuclear family: the case of Ghana

ABSTRACT

The motivation to achieve homeownership varies according to cultural and national contexts. However, research on homeownership needs of the nuclear family has mainly focused on developed countries with little known in developing countries. Using in-depth interviews, this paper explores how the needs of the nuclear family influence the attainment of homeownership in the Ghanaian city of Kumasi. Findings suggest that individuals attain homeownership foremost for the reason of accommodating their expanding families. Even though this reason for homeownership is pervasive across various geographical and cultural contexts, the peculiar Ghanaian situation is how individuals concurrently bear the cost of attaining a house and meet their needs. It is obvious that the advantages that homeownership provides act as an incentive for its attainment. One such is the ability to nurture children to achieve positive social, physical and cognitive traits. In addition, homeownership ensures privacy, security, wealth and income benefits to homeowners. These benefits are especially important to the surviving family of a deceased homeowner.

KEYWORDS:

• Nuclear family
• homeownership
• children
• Kumasi

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. A compound house is a dwelling where many different households stay in different rooms in the same unit and use common facilities such as kitchen and bathrooms. They are usually characterized by overcrowding.

2. Self-building here refers to the individual acquisition of residential land and the development of a residential structure with personal savings.

3. A “single room” refers to the renting of one room in a house where the renter shares facilities like toilets, bathrooms and kitchens with other co-renters or the landlord’s household. A “chamber and hall” usually consists of two rooms where one is supposed to serve the purpose of bedroom while the other serves as a living area. However for large households, the living area sometimes doubles as a makeshift bedroom.

4. Well planned vicinities are perceived to be more “residential” compared to the overcrowded poorly planned urban vicinities.

5. Informal settlements where illicit drugs and alcohol sale and intake are high.

6. The major way of paying for rental housing where renters are required to make a down payment to cover the cost of rent for a period of time, usually for a year or more.

7. The exchange rate at the time of study was $1 = GH₵4.45.

8. The “point” system is commonly utilized in dwellings shared by different households as a way of ensuring equitable allocation of utility bills. Each household member is considered as a “point” in the allocation of water bills while the apportioning of electricity bills uses electrical gadgets as consumption points.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Albert Adu-Gyamfi

Albert Adu-Gyamfi holds a PhD in Development Studies from the University of Melbourne, Australia; MSC in Resettlement Science and Management from Hohai University, China; and BSc (hons) in human settlement planning from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. He is currently a lecturer at the Department of Planning in Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. He is a member of the Ghana University Teachers Association. His research is focused on housing, rural and urban development, and urban and regional planning.  He has collaborated on several international projects with Australian and Ghanaian universities.