Housing Characteristics

Housing, Characteristics presents statistics on housing stock, types of dwelling (occupied and unoccupied) units, main construction materials, tenure and holding arrangement, ownership type, number of rooms, sources of lighting and cooking fuel, cooking and bathing spaces; disaggregated by region and type of locality (urban/rural).

Table of contents

1. Highlights
   • Residential structures and Dwelling units
   • Main construction materials of outer walls
   • Tenure or holding arrangement of dwelling units
   • Main source of lighting
   • Main source of cooking fuel
2. Background Information
3. Definition of Concepts
4. Related Links

Highlights

Residential structures

Residential structures increased in the last decade by 72.8 percent (from 3,392,745 in 2010 to 5,862,890 in 2021) with variations by type of locality and region (See figure 1 below). Vacant dwelling units constitute 12.7 percent of all dwelling units, and is more prevalent in rural (14.9%) than urban (11.1%) areas (See figure 2 below). Proportion of vacant dwelling units is highest in Western North Region (16.3%), followed closely by Volta Region (14.8%) and Greater Accra Region (14.6%) - (See figure 3 below).

Figure 1: Number of residential structures by type of locality, 2010-2021

Figure 2: Occupancy status of dwelling units by type of locality

Figure 3: Occupancy status of dwelling units by type of region

Type of dwelling units

The most prevalent types of dwelling unit in the country are separate house (detached) (63.3%) and compound house (20.9%). Separate house (detached) is however more predominant in rural (76.6%) than urban (53.8%) areas.

Figure 4: Type of dwelling units by type of locality

Main Construction materials of outer walls

Construction Material

Nationally, 64.1 percent of dwelling units have cement blocks or concrete as the main construction material for outer walls (See figure 5 below), with Greater Accra and Ashanti regions accounting for close to half (47.5%) of these dwelling units, and an urban representation of 82.5 percent (See figure 6 below).

Figure 5: Cement blocks/concrete as main construction material for outer walls of dwelling units by type of locality

Figure 6: Cement blocks/concrete as main construction material for outer walls of dwelling units by region

Use of cement blocks and mud bricks/earth

Use of cement blocks/concrete for outer wall of dwelling units increased steadily from 39.1 percent in 2000 to 57.5 percent in 2010 and 64.1 percent in 2021. In contrast, the use of mud bricks/earth declined over the same period (50.0% in 2000; 34.2% in 2010 and 29.6 in 2021) - (See figure 7 below).

Figure 7: Proportion of dwelling units with cement blocks/concrete and mud bricks/earth as outer walls, 2000-2021

Tenure or holding arrangement of dwelling unit

Owner-occupied dwelling units

About half (48.4%) of households live in owner occupied dwelling units with North East Region (90.1%) recording the highest proportion and Greater Accra Region (36.4%) the lowest, and form the majority in rural areas. (See figure 8 below)

Figure 8: Owner-occupied dwelling units

Rented dwelling units

A third (34.6%) of households occupy rented dwelling units (urban, 46.0%; rural, 17.1%) with Greater Accra (47.6%) and Ashanti (40.6%) regions having the highest proportions. - (See figure 9 below)

Figure 9: Rented dwelling units by type of locality and region

Main source of lighting

Electricity as main source of lighting by type of locality and region

The proportion of households that use electricity as the main source of lighting doubled in the last two decades from 43.8 percent in 2000 to 86.3 percent in 2021. (See figure 10 below)

Use of electricity as the main source of lighting varies markedly among regions, with the highest in Greater Accra Region (96.1%) and the lowest in North East Region (57.0%); and between urban (95.2%) and rural (72.6%) areas.

Figure 10: Use of electricity as main source of lighting by type of locality and region

Main source of cooking fuel

Although use of wood or charcoal as the main source of cooking fuel has declined over the last decade (from 73.9 percent in 2010), more than half (54.3%) of households, and in 11 regions, more than six in every ten households, still use wood or charcoal. - (See figure 11. below). Gas (LPG) as main source of cooking fuel increased from 18.2 percent in 2010 to 36.9 percent in 2021: it is substantially lower in rural areas (14.8%) than urban areas (51.3%); highest in Greater Accra Region (68.2%) and lowest in North East Region (4.2%). - (See figure 12 below)

Figure 11: Use of wood and charcoal as the main source of cooking fuel by region, 2010-2021

Figure 12: GAS (LPG) as the main source of cooking fule by region, 2010-2021

Background Information

Download the full report for data tables, background information and information on methodology and data quality.

Definition of Concepts

Structure

Structure is defined as a separate and independent building or an enclosure. The 2021 PHC classified structures as completed or uncompleted, occupied or unoccupied, movable or fixed, and residential or non-residential.

Residential Structure

Residential structure refers to a structure used or intended to be used for dwelling, living or as a sleeping place by an individual, households or groups of people.

Dwelling Unit

It refers to one or more rooms in a housing unit occupied by a household. The dwelling unit could be the entire structure or part of a structure, occupied or vacant.

Occupancy Status

This refers to a dwelling unit within a residential structure whether occupied or vacant. The dwelling unit is classified into occupied dwelling unit, secondary housing unit and vacant dwelling unit.

Owner-occupied

This refers to a dwelling unit owned by a member of the household currently living in it.

Roofing Material

This refers to the main or predominant material used for the covering of the dwelling unit.

Floor Material

Floor material refers to the main or predominant construction material used for the ground space of the dwelling unit or the living quarters.

Tenure/Holding Arrangement

This refers to the arrangement under which the household occupies the dwelling unit, namely Owner-occupied, renting, rent-free, perching, squatting or care-taking.

Ownership Type

Ownership type refers to the individual or legal entity with the right of possession of the dwelling unit being used by the household, namely, estate developer, family, relative not a household member, other private individual, private employer/agency, public/government, and others.

Lighting

Lighting refers to the main and secondary sources of light used by the household in the dwelling unit.

Cooking Fuel

This refers to the main and secondary sources of fuel such as wood, LPG, electricity, charcoal, and animal waste predominantly used by the household for the preparation of meals.

Cooking Space (Kitchen)

This refers to a designated place where the household prepares meals or some other space set aside for cooking.

Wall Material

This refers to the main or predominant construction material such as brick, concrete, mud, and wood, used for the walls of the dwelling unit or the living quarters

Related Links

Volume 3M Water and Sanitation

Volume 3K structures

Download Proximity of Residential Structures to Essential Service Facilities Report

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