Community Voice is where we use what we have — an audience, listings data and a network of agents — to push for housing people can actually afford. It starts with the single biggest barrier to renting in Ghana: the rent advance.
A teacher earning monthly cannot save two years of rent. So they borrow at punishing rates, move somewhere worse, crowd in with family, or stay somewhere unsafe. The rent itself is rarely what locks people out — the lump sum is. Ghana's law has capped it at six months since 1963; enforcement only began in earnest on 1 April 2026, and public awareness remains low. Closing that awareness gap costs almost nothing and helps enormous numbers of people — so that's where we start.
Enter what a landlord or agent is asking for. We'll show you what the law allows, what the excess is worth, and what to do next. Free, private, and nothing is stored.
Based on Section 25(5) of the Rent Act 1963 (Act 220), as amended.
Educational information, not legal advice. The cap is set by Section 25(5) of the Rent Act 1963 (Act 220), as amended; breaching it is a criminal offence carrying a fine of up to 500 penalty units, up to two years' imprisonment, or both. For a specific dispute, contact the Rent Control Department or a qualified lawyer.
Six rights the law already gives you. Most renters have never been told about them. Free to read, free to share — no account needed.
For a tenancy longer than six months, the maximum advance rent that may legally be demanded is six months. For a monthly or shorter tenancy, the limit is tighter still. A demand above the cap is illegal regardless of what the tenancy agreement says, regardless of what the landlord calls "market practice", and regardless of what other tenants have accepted.
Breaching it is a criminal offence — a fine of up to 500 penalty units, up to two years' imprisonment, or both. You have the right to refuse the excess and to complain to the Rent Control Department.
Rent cards are now mandatory, and Rent Control has been turning away landlords who cannot show they have issued them. Always ask for a rent card, and always get a written receipt for every payment you make — including the advance. Without proof of payment, you have little to stand on in a dispute.
Eviction requires the legally required written notice and, ultimately, a court order. Self-help eviction is illegal — a landlord may not change the locks, remove your belongings, or cut off your water or electricity to force you out, whatever the tenancy agreement says.
If it happens to you, document everything, contact the police, and seek advice from the Rent Control Department or a qualified lawyer.
Rent increases are regulated and require the proper process through the Rent Control Department; they must be justified rather than simply announced. You cannot lawfully be evicted for refusing an unauthorised increase.
Landlords must maintain habitable conditions — structural soundness, working sanitation, access to basic amenities. This duty is ongoing and does not disappear because you paid a large advance.
Report repair needs in writing (a WhatsApp message with a read receipt works), state the problem clearly, and give a reasonable time to fix it. If nothing happens, escalate to Rent Control.
Every tenant can file a complaint with the Rent Control Department, which now operates a digital platform and offices across the regions, and can bring proceedings before the Rent Magistrate Court. A special Rent Taskforce is operating with Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.
You do not need a lawyer to make a complaint. See how to report below.
This is educational information, not legal advice. For a specific dispute, contact the Rent Control Department or a qualified lawyer. Verify all statutory references with counsel before publishing.
We would rather publish a short list we actually deliver than a long list that sounds good. Every programme below carries an honest status — and we report on all of them publicly.
Free, plain-language tenant rights education — the six-month cap, rent cards, eviction, repairs and how to complain. Published on this page, shareable, no login. Rolling out in Twi, Ga, Ewe and Hausa.
A free tool that tells anyone, in seconds, whether the advance they're being asked for is within the law — and what the excess is actually worth.
Our existing product, and the most useful thing we do: spreading rent into monthly payments instead of a crippling lump sum. We're expanding it and adding a zero-fee tier for low-income tenants and key workers.
Landlords and agents who list with us can pledge to the legal six-month cap, no illegal viewing fees, a written agreement and a rent card. Pledged listings carry a badge — and renters can filter to see only those.
Ghana has almost no open data on what rent actually costs. We have it. We'll publish anonymised asking-rent data by area every quarter — free, for tenants, journalists, researchers and policymakers.
Land fraud hits hardest those who can least afford it. We're setting aside a monthly quota of free land verifications for first-time and low-income buyers, and free inspections for tenants facing a long-distance move.
Homes let or sold below an affordability threshold will be listed free, carry no commission, and be promoted at no cost — so the cheapest homes are never the hardest to find.
Working with employers, unions and associations to give nurses, teachers, police and sanitation workers priority access, monthly payment terms and no agent commission on qualifying lets.
Paid training for young people as property inspectors, photographers and trainee agents — a route into the sector that doesn't depend on who you know.
Most landlords are not villains — many rely on the advance to fund repairs or finish a build, and they deserve a workable alternative rather than a lecture. But the law is the law, and enforcement began on 1 April 2026. Pledging protects you as much as your tenant.
For landlords, agents and property managers listing on Apartments Ghana.
You don't need a lawyer, and you don't need money, to make a complaint.
The Rent Control Department handles complaints about illegal advances, unlawful eviction, unauthorised increases and disrepair — through its offices across the regions and its online platform.
rentcontrol.mwh.gov.gh →Keep every receipt, message and version of the tenancy agreement. A WhatsApp thread where a landlord demands two years' advance is evidence. Photograph disrepair and date it.
What the law entitles you to →If a landlord or agent found through Apartments Ghana breaks the law, tell us. We can't prosecute — but we can remove their Fair Rent badge, and we can remove them from our platform.
Report to us →Any company can announce a social programme. The test is whether it publishes numbers afterwards — including the bad ones. These are the measures we'll report each quarter, and we've deliberately chosen ones we can't fake by simply trying harder at PR.
| What we measure | Why this one | Latest |
|---|---|---|
| Cedis of rent advance avoided | Tenants moved onto monthly terms × the lump sum they'd otherwise have had to find. This is the number that represents real relief. | — |
| Tenants housed on monthly payment terms | People, not pledges. A signature costs a landlord nothing; a monthly tenancy actually changes someone's life. | — |
| Listings carrying the Fair Rent badge | And, honestly, the share of all our listings that is — because a big number means little if it's 2% of the site. | — |
| Landlords or agents removed for breaches | The uncomfortable one. If this is always zero, either the pledge is meaningless or we aren't enforcing it. | — |
| Free verifications & inspections delivered | Protection for the people least able to absorb a loss. | — |
| Affordable homes listed free | Supply at the bottom of the market is the thing that actually matters. | — |
We can't build houses. Ghana's shortage is roughly 1.8 million homes, and no listings platform closes that. Supply is the root cause; everything on this page treats the symptoms, and we'd rather say so than imply otherwise.
We can't fix rents. If landlords are stopped from taking huge advances, some may raise monthly rents or leave the rental market altogether — a real risk that people in the sector have raised, and one we'll be watching for in our own data rather than ignoring because it's inconvenient.
We're not neutral, and you should know that. We earn money from property transactions. That gives us an obvious interest in more lettings and more sales. We think it also aligns us with tenants here — a renter who can pay monthly is a renter who can move at all — but you're entitled to weigh what we say in that light, and to check whether the numbers above ever actually get published.
We'd rather be told what's actually happening to people than guess from a boardroom. Tell us what you're facing as a renter, a landlord, a buyer or a builder — what's working, what isn't, and what you think we should be doing with the reach we have.
We read everything. The programmes above will change based on what comes in.
Tenants, landlords, agents, builders — all welcome.
