Ghana Home Loans

With interest rates declining, a more liquid environment and a macroeconomic stability, mortgage financing is expected to see an ease of credit. And Ghana Home Loans being a leader in this industry is expected to lead the way.
Ghana Home Loans (GHL), a leader in home mortgage, continues to be the frontier in fulfilling dreams of many Ghanaians in homeownership.

Since starting business in 2006, it has also provided many existing homeowners with Equity Release mortgages to support their businesses, pay educational fees, improve their properties, or simply pursue other personal hobbies and interests.
Ghana Home Loans is a mortgage finance institution which operates under Bank of Ghana’s supervision as a non-bank financial institution. At present, the Company remains the only such institution that focuses exclusively on the provision of mortgage product.

Through the Home Completion mortgage and Home Construction mortgage products, Ghana Home Loans has enabled many qualified applicants to complete or build dream homes on their own land across the country.

In order to assist prospective mortgage applicants with their search for a home, Ghana Home Loans recently launched an online database, www.ghlpropertyfinder.com, of houses currently on the market. This platform provides information on the location and details of each house as well as the qualifying monthly salary required to obtain a mortgage to buy the property.

In 2010, Ghana Home Loans consolidated the industry’s leadership position with the launch of the One Mortgage Project. The objective of this project is to create a nation of homeowners; one mortgage at a time.
The company’s key objective is to leverage information technology and modern mortgage finance techniques to consistently provide its clients with competitively priced long term mortgage finance to facilitate home ownership.

Unlike other mortgage or financial institutions, prospective applicants are not required to open a bank account with Ghana Home Loans or participate in any kind of saving scheme before qualifying for a mortgage.
The shareholders of Ghana Home Loans are Standard Bank (South Africa), FMO (Netherlands), GHL-US Investment Partners (USA), International Finance Corporation IFC (USA) and Management and staff.

Ghana Home Loans focuses exclusively on home finance thereby making it possible for it to offer its clients competitive pricing, innovative products, good professional advice, and first class customer service. The company’s mortgage facilities typically have repayment period of up to 20 years
Applicants have the option of paying fees or charges upfront or capitalising a greater proportion of the total amount due. Both options are provided in the initial Letter of Intent which the applicant should receive from GHL within 48 hours of submitting their request.

GHL currently offers the following type of mortgage products: First Time Buyer – as the name implies these are applicants looking to buy their very first home. These are typically individuals or young couples (joint applicants) looking to establish a home. Applicants will be required to contribute at least 25% of the property value towards the purchase;

Buy to Let - Applicants who already own a home but wish to buy another property for the sole purpose of renting it out to tenants. Applicants will be required to make a down payment as their contribution to the purchase;

Equity Release - Applicants who own their homes outright but wish to borrow on a long term basis using their home as collateral to expand their business, undertake home improvements / expansion, pay overseas school fees etc. No down payment is required for this type of mortgage. Furthermore, all fees and charges can be capitalised (added to the loan) to make it easier for the borrower;
Refinance - Applicants may have an existing mortgage with another provider but wish to switch to Ghana Home Loans to benefit from its competitive rates and quality customer service. The Refinance mortgage provides an opportunity to transfer the loan to Ghana Home Loans;

Home Completion / Home Construction - In order to build or complete the construction of their future home, an applicant should consider the Home Completion / Home Construction mortgage. This is a two part loan which comprises an initial one year construction loan followed by a mortgage loan of up to 20 years. Again, all upfront fees and charges can be capitalised to ease the financial burden on the applicant.
Prospective borrowers will be assessed for their eligibility to apply for their preferred product. Prospective applicants must be at least eighteen years and not more than 65. The maturity of the mortgage should not extend beyond the applicant’s retirement age. However prospective applicants above 55 should ensure that they can arrange 15 year life insurance cover before applying for a mortgage.

Applicants must provide proof of their gross monthly income by way of an employment contract, tax returns, and most recent pay slips. Applicant’s who are self-employed shall need to provide an income statement prepared by a qualified accountant. This should be supported by historical information on bank accounts to prove the income declared;

Prospective home buyers are required to contribute a minimum of between 10-25% of the property value. The borrower will be required to provide evidence of this amount at the time of application and deposit it in a designated account before the mortgage facility is disbursed;

Corporate Social Responsibility
Ghana Home Loans has been actively involved in corporate social responsibility since June 2009. The aim is to impact peoples’ lives and the environment in which it operates.
Every month Ghana Home Loans tries to give back to the society. It does this through monthly projects which cover education, health, socio- cultural and economic spheres. The company’s monthly projects embarked on include: Educational materials for the Akropong School of the Blind Ghana Home Loans made a donation of 50 packs of Braille sheets and 7 packs of Braillons to the School for the Blind in Akropong.
It also joined the University of Ghana Medical students in celebrating their 12th Annual Health Week. As part of the activities marking the celebration a free medical screening was organized. Ghana Home Loans funded this exercise which gave free medical care for about 600 people. Staff of Ghana Home Loans assisted with the registration of the masses for the exercise.