96 RENT CONTROL IN KUMASI, GHANA Rental Housing Losses -- Demolitions. Conversions and Foregone Starts Demolitions of houses appear to be extremely rare except during the A.F.R.C. regime's "house-cleaning" in 1979 in which one or two houses used for storing contraband were blown up by the army. However, a demolition by landlord in order to evict a tenant occurred in early 1989 in Accra causing much public attention. A lack of a tradition supporting individualistic action may have inhibited demolitions in order to rebuild for commercial purposes even in prime sites, e.g. the town center and around Konfo Anokye Hospital/Bantama High Street.

In theory, rent contrcl ought to motivate landlords to consider alternative uses for their properties, i.e. conversion to non- residential uses. There is little evidence of a spread of the commercial sector spreading into central residential areas. Throughout the city, the survey showed 10% of houses with any rooms in commercial use and only 3% of houses with any rooms converted into commercial use since 1980.

In the United Kingdom, rent control has provided incentives for landlords to sell their property into owner occupation (although many tenants also have security of tenure under the law, see Robinson, 1979 Mac'ennan, 1982). This does not occur in Kumasi because of a strong taboo .g the dominant ethnic group against selling fixed property. As Tipple (1v ., explains, not only do landlords abhor the idea of selling, but also the tenants would be unwilling to buy from them. The only exception to this has been the State Housing Corporation which has been selling its property to sitting tenants, or new property to the allocatee, for many years as the rents have fallen ever further behind the cost of maintenance. In the survey sample, 40% of households in the government sector owned their house, 22% were family housers. As a quasi-government organization, SHC cannot act with economic rationality alone and allow its property to decay in line with its returns. On the other hand, it has been required to operate on a commercial basis since subsidies were removed (Ghana, 1975). The result has been a slow decay in the housing stock still in SHC ownership and few new houses being built for rental by SHC.

# Housing From the Existing Stock

Rent Control in Kumasi creates an incentive for landlords to allow their properties to deteriorate. The 1986 survey of housing in Kumasi shows that many renters live in housing which, structurally, has been allowed to fall into disrepair. Rents are generally insufficient to cover even maintenance costs. The hedonic models show that, while these units would rent for more than the controlled price in the open market, their price is still low and sometimes less than what tenants would be willing to pay for a room with additional facilities. Renters pay little but receive little in return except a location in the city. However, impressionistic evidence indicates that housing deterioration as a result of landlord behavior is compensated for somewhat by tenants' spending resources on maintaining and improving their rooms, probably encouraged by their perceived security of tenure which is exhibited by their very long mean duration