Understanding rent dynamics in Wenchi Municipality knowledge of rent laws determinants of rent, and landlord extortion practices

Abstract

The study explored the practices of house owners in the Wenchi Municipality. The study assessed the practices of house owners in the Wenchi Municipality. Specifically, the study (1) assessed the level of knowledge of house owners and tenants on Rent Control laws, (2) determined the factors that influence rent charges, (3) examined the forms of extortion practised by house owners, and (4) evaluated the effects of house owners’ extortion practices on tenants in the Wenchi Municipality. Based on the overall research objectives, the study was conducted within the positivist-quantitative framework and employed a descriptive survey design. The target population for the study was all 11,048 houses in the municipality. Simple random and purposive sampling techniques were used to sample 351 participants, made up of 120 house owners and 231 tenants, for the study. The researcher used questionnaires in the form of a Likert scale for the data collection. Data analysis was conducted descriptively, focusing on means and standard deviations. The study found that house owners in the Wenchi municipal are more knowledgeable on rent control laws than tenants; It was also found that economic factors such as interest rate, speculative rise in building materials, high rates of inflation effect, depreciating value of the local currency (cedi), the socio-economic income of individuals and increase in incomes of renters influence rent determination in the Wenchi Municipal. It is recommended that policymakers educate tenants on rent control laws, including tenancy agreement laws, the expiration of tenancy agreements, the one-month renewal period, and the requirement for tenants to obtain the landlord's written consent before subletting their premises.