14 _L*.RENT_ CONTROL IN KUMASI, GHANA

# C. Suggestions for future work

This study presents empirical evidence from one city in Ghana while rent control is practiced in all the regional capitals. It is quite possible that the distortions caused in other cities may be very different from those found tn Kumasi. There may especially be differences between the capital, Accra, and other cities and between the larger cities and smaller towmrs. There is impressionistic evidence to suggest that the port city of Sekondi-Takoradi is not growing in parallel with the other cities, probably because of the decline in its port functions. Rent control distortions will differ in differently (-volviag housing markets. There is considerable scope for modelling rent control in other cities, in Ghana as well as other countries.9V There could also be much to learn from extended examination of the Kumasi data. Further disaggregation by geographical area in the city and type of rental unit (those in self-contained units and those in rooms). More detailed work could be carried out on how controls affect specific aspects of housing consumption (crowding, access to water and sanitation, etc.) Perhaps most obviously this paper has focused on controls in the _private_ rental market; analysis of public units is also a high future priority. Tenure choice models would also be fruitful.

Policies adopted in developing countries aimed at increasing owner occupation through sites and services and upgrading have undoubtedly added much needed potential for home ownership. However, it appears that rental remains an important mode of tenure and an important investment vehicle and source of income for a significant number of the urban population. Many countries hinder the growth of rental markets in low income housing schemes for fear of exploitative landlordism. The Kumasi experience shows that small-scale landlords may be far from exploitative; indeed renting a few rooms may provide them with their only means of affording ownership and, therefore, the essential motivation to add to the housing stock. Do such small-scale landlords differ from landlords who make their living out of housing? Do landlords who occupy part of a house treat tenants differently from landlords who live elsewhere? How are tenants chosen? Do ethnic, religious or status considerations affect households' access to rental housing in Africa? What are the effects when housing allowances are paid as part of formal sector wages9 Another interesting area for research is the changing relationship between housing and culture. There are probably many parts of the world where housing has so many symbolic meanings that housing policies which ignore this will fall foul of what might appear to outsiders at first sight to be illogical reactions by households. It might well be that subsidies intended for housing are spent, instead, on preparation for death, or that investment in housing in the urban area where a household lives is foregone in favor of investment in a house in a home village. Such issues are central to understanding housing markets in an era when governments must rely on private investment.

- 2.! In addition to this case study, the World Bank's research project on Rent Control in Developing Countries (RPO 674-01) is producing case studies of Cairo, Egypt; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Bangalore, India.