The National Union of Ghana Students has welcomed steps by authorities to regulate rising hostel fees, describing recent interventions by the Rent Control Department as long overdue.
Speaking on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Wednesday (13 May), NUGS president Rashid Ibrahim said the union’s petition on hostel pricing has triggered action from both regulators and government.
He said the Rent Control Department has begun inspections of private hostels across tertiary institutions to verify complaints of arbitrary pricing and poor regulation.
“We are happy that the Rent Commissioner did not sit on the petition but moved to the ground to assess the situation,” he said.
The development comes as Ghana’s Education Ministry is also reportedly setting up a committee to investigate hostel fee hikes nationwide.
Ibrahim said the interventions signal growing recognition that student accommodation has become a major policy issue, with costs in some cases exceeding tuition fees.
“Students are now paying several times more for accommodation than for school fees,” he noted.
He argued that existing laws, including provisions under Ghana’s rent regulations, already empower authorities to control pricing but have suffered from weak enforcement.
“The laws are there, but they have not been enforced for decades,” he said, urging authorities to ensure compliance this time.
The Rent Control Department has proposed subjecting hostels to professional valuation to standardise pricing, a move the union believes could bring fairness and transparency to the sector.
Ibrahim added that aligning hostel fees with facility standards and enforcing uniform pricing would help reduce exploitation.
He also called on government to expand public-private partnerships to increase student housing supply, warning that regulation alone may not resolve the crisis.
“The only long-term solution is to build more accommodation,” he said.
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