In Ghana, there is a split when people are asked to select either buying a house or building one. A number of people mention the stress that comes with seeking a suitable location or acquiring a bare land, paying for labor and other materials as some of the reasons they would want to purchase a completed house.
Those who prefer building their own houses mention cost – which is relatively cheaper, building to their own specification and knowing the kind of materials that go into the construction of the property as some of the reasons they would prefer building their own properties. Another argument is the fact that one does not need to pay a huge sum of money but with a regular source of income, they can allot a portion to the project which will not drain their monthly expenditure.
Before building a property, every individual would like to have an estimate of its cost. It is easy to find the price of a completed house especially with the presence of online real estate platforms like Lamudi but a little bit challenging to estimate how much it will take to build a house from scratch.
According to the Category Manager of CPL Groups, Mr. Israel Nornyibey, the cost of putting up a property vary from one location to the other: “In my estimation, I think you will need about GHS 150,000 to build a decent three-bedroom house without any storey and this basically depends on where you want the property to be or the cost of the land in that neighbourhood,” says Nornyibey
Apart from the cost of the land there are other factors that determine the cost of a building. “The cost of the property depends on the materials that are being used, the size of the land, the transportation costs as well as the furnishing. This figure does not include landscaping,” Nornyibey adds.
Land is a major factor that accounts for the cost of building a property. The price of the property is likely to go up if it is located in a certain area. Nornyibey says, “If the house is situated in a prime area like Osu, Cantonments, Labone, the cost of the land alone will be about GHS 30,000.”
With this information, would you like to build your own house or purchase a complete property?