The Hostel Owners Association of Ghana has challenged the legal basis of the Rent Control Department’s ongoing enforcement campaign against private student hostels.
The Acting Rent Commissioner has in recent months intensified efforts to assess hostel facilities and demand reductions in accommodation fees, particularly at public universities.
However, hostel operators at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) argue that the Rent Control Department has no legal basis to regulate their operations because purpose-built student hostels do not fall within the scope of the rent control laws.
The Rent Control Department has, since the beginning of 2026, intensified its enforcement campaign against student hostel operators at public universities, including those in Kumasi.
The campaign has seen the Rent Commissioner threaten to close unregistered facilities and those accused of charging exorbitant accommodation fees.
Although the hostel owners acknowledge concerns about students’ welfare, they argue that the enforcement campaign lacks a legal foundation.
According to the association, the Rent Act, 1963 (Act 220), and the Rent Control Law, 1986 (PNDCL 138), exclude dwellings where rent includes meals or services.
President of the association, Bishop Dr Akwasi Owusu-Bi, said purpose-built student hostels are commercial enterprises that provide accommodation alongside services such as security, cleaning and management.
He argued that such facilities therefore do not fall within the traditional landlord-tenant framework under Ghana’s rent control laws but are regulated within the tourism and local governance framework.
“Hostels are independently classified across Ghana’s tourism, planning and local governance statutes as a licensed commercial and tourism-sector enterprise, zoned separately from ordinary residential dwellings,” he noted.
The association also rejected descriptions of hostel owners as “exploitative” and “criminal”.
Counsel for the association, Michael Gyang Owusu, further argued that even if hostels fell under the jurisdiction of the Rent Control Department, the Commissioner could not independently enter a property to assess rent without an invitation from either party to the tenancy agreement.
“Even if they were subject to the Rent Act, the Act sets out the procedure for the assessment of rents. It doesn’t give the Rent Commissioner the power to impose a blanket charge or assessment. The Act and its regulations say that for assessment to take place, the application must be made either by the landlord/owner or tenant or an interested person,” he said.
He added: “The Commissioner, himself, cannot come to make an assessment without any invitation.”
The association warned that imposing rent controls in an already supply-constrained student accommodation market could force some private operators out of the sector and worsen the shortage of accommodation for students.
It cited rising construction costs, high borrowing rates and currency depreciation as some of the factors driving increases in hostel fees.
“We do not dispute that some students face real affordability hardship, that Ghana’s rental market is characterised by information asymmetries that disadvantage students seeking affordable hostels, or that the department has a legitimate and important role to play in Ghana’s housing sector,” Bishop Dr Akwasi Owusu-Bi said.
Property economist and lecturer at the Department of Land Economy at KNUST, Dr Kenneth Donkor Hyieman, also highlighted the potential consequences of rent control measures on the hostel sector.
He said experience from countries where rent control had been implemented effectively showed that the policy could negatively affect the quality and supply of accommodation.
“If you look around the world, in places where rent control has been effectively implemented, you’d realise there is a deterioration in the quality of housing which would see the reduction in prices. But as a response, the hostel owners would in turn withdraw the supply of the houses. This creates a shortage. This would likely create a black market too,” he said.
The KNUST Hostel Owners Association is therefore calling for a transparent, cost-based rental index for university communities, increased investment in public student accommodation and greater use of public-private partnerships to expand the supply of student housing.
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