Ghana’s Ministry of Works and Housing has unveiled an online rent platform to boost transparency, access and fairness in the country’s rental market.
This ministry move was heavily lauded by the real estate industry and renters as it contributed to solving the housing crisis and several challenges the two parties experienced.
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What went wrong
The online rent platform is not as seamless as it was expected to be, and many features that would make the user experience easier are missing.
First, signing up for the platform isn’t easy. Some users did not receive an OTP code to complete their signing-up process.
The platform does not provide listings for many areas or locations. You can search for a specific location and not find available houses for rent.
This is an absolute bummer as one of the first things a renter looks out for on an online rental platform is the essential listings.
Also, the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section provides insufficient information about using the platform, and many sections are blank.
Additionally, the platform does not have a data privacy policy and does not state how the data used on the platform is handled.
These challenges will reduce the quality of users’ experience when adopting the platform to solve their rent or housing needs. Some people may abandon it altogether and use other private online renting platforms or go the traditional way—using house agents.
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Why the rent platform was set up
The digital platform was made to provide a wide range of services, including the ability to register properties, file complaints, and resolve disputes online, so there would be no need for in-person visits.
In addition, tenancy agreements should be digitalised, and unique digital property addresses will be assigned to all rented properties.
This was expected to make the rental market well put together and transparent.
What should be done – now
The chances of the platform being abandoned and not used for its intended purpose are very high unless the government solves many of the website’s problems, such as fixing the properties listing section so users can search for available properties anywhere within the country and improving the overall user experience.