October 10, 2026
11 min
· Rédaction Imonga
Before you rent an apartment in Accra, Ghana, settle three things: how much rent is paid in advance, which documents the landlord hands over, and who is actually collecting the money. The Rent Act, 1963 (Act 220) makes it an offence to demand more than six months' rent in advance on a tenancy longer than six months. It also requires a rent card on monthly tenancies and limits the grounds for eviction. The Rent Control Department takes complaints from tenants and landlords alike. This guide quotes no rents: we hold no sourced figure for Accra, and an unsourced price is worth nothing.
The rule sits in section 25(5) of the Rent Act, 1963 (Act 220). As reproduced in this legal commentary from March 2023, a person commits an offence who, as a condition of the grant, renewal or continuance of a tenancy, demands “in the case of a monthly or shorter tenancy, the payment in advance of more than a month's rent or in the case of a tenancy exceeding six months, the payment in advance of more than six months rent”.
The penalty has been rewritten over time. The original fine was one hundred pounds. Section 19(2) of the Rent Control Law, 1986 (PNDCL 138) replaced it with “ten thousand cedis or a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years”. In March 2026 the Acting Rent Commissioner, Frederick Opoku, said landlords who break the law risk a fine of up to 500 penalty units, a prison term of up to two years, or both, and set 1 April 2026 for full implementation of the Rent Act (Ghanaian Times, carried by GNBCC, 27 March 2026). His words: “Advance rent should not exceed six months.”
If a landlord or agent asks for one or two years upfront, the demand goes beyond what the Act allows. You can negotiate by pointing to section 25(5), or report it to the Rent Control Department.
This answer is general and is not personal advice: before you commit, have your situation checked by a notary or a lawyer.
Ask for a written tenancy agreement and, on a monthly tenancy, a rent card. Ghana's two rent statutes do not cover exactly the same lettings, so the table sticks to their wording.
| Document or rule | What the text says | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Rent card | Every landlord of premises on monthly or shorter tenancies issues one to the tenant “within seven days after the commencement of the tenancy”. It shows the landlord's and tenant's names and addresses and the amount of the recoverable rent. | Act 220, section 20 |
| Registration of the agreement | The landlord of residential accommodation referred to in section 1 of the Law (single or two-roomed accommodation in residential premises) registers the agreement with the Rent and Housing Committee “within fourteen days of entering into the lease or tenancy agreement”. | PNDCL 138, section 4 |
| Sub-letting | On a monthly or shorter tenancy, no sub-letting “without the written consent of his landlord”. | Act 220, section 22 |
| Advance rent | No more than one month (monthly or shorter tenancy); no more than six months (tenancy exceeding six months). | Act 220, section 25(5) |
Sections 20 and 22 can be read in the text of the Rent Act, 1963 (Act 220). Section 2 of PNDCL 138 takes several lettings out of section 1, including premises let for business purposes and rents above a threshold set in old cedis. The Rent Control Department states the duty in general terms: in May 2026 Mr Opoku said “It is illegal for a landlord not to provide a tenancy agreement”, recalled the 14-day registration deadline and mentioned fines of about GH¢3,000 or up to six months' imprisonment (Graphic Online, May 2026). To know whether your own agreement must be registered, ask the Department with the contract in hand.
Serviced apartments are a special case. Act 220 defines “premises” so as to exclude a dwelling bona fide let “at a rent which includes a payment for board or attendance”. If your rent covers meals or attendance, ask in writing which rules apply to your contract.
Pay nothing until you have seen the apartment and confirmed that the person taking the money has the right to let it. In order:
The most common scams are described in our guide to avoiding property fraud (in French). See also how to prepare a rental file and furnished versus unfurnished, both in French.
On Imonga. We publish no median rent and no list of neighbourhoods for Accra here: no verified Imonga data was available on the date of writing (10 October 2026). The Accra property guide introduces the city, and the Tema guide its port neighbour (both in French).
A landlord cannot put you out on their own authority. Section 17(1) of Act 220 provides that no order for the recovery of possession or for ejectment is made by the Rent Magistrate or any other competent judge except in the circumstances it lists. They include rent lawfully due that has not been paid or tendered “within one month after the date on which it became lawfully due”, and premises reasonably required by the landlord for personal occupation as a dwelling house.
The first port of call is the Rent Control Department. Section 5 of Act 220 gives the Rent Officer the job of assessing the recoverable rent on application by a landlord or tenant, and of investigating complaints. Section 24 adds that a Rent Officer has no power to award costs or to receive payment for any service beyond salary. The office is busy: 73,352 complaints from landlords and tenants between 2019 and 2022, 73 percent of them over unpaid rent, according to its spokesman (Ghanaian Times, 12 September 2023). The rest included forceful evictions, rent increases and advance balances not refunded.
These rules may change. On 26 June 2026 the Minister for Works and Housing told Parliament that a draft bill “at an advanced stage” would repeal the Rent Act 1963 and the Rent Control Law 1986 and was expected to go to Cabinet (Citi Newsroom, 26 June 2026). We found no enacted text on the date of consultation: check the current law before you sign.
This answer is general and is not personal advice: before you commit, have your situation checked by a notary or a lawyer.
Not under section 25(5) of the Rent Act, 1963 (Act 220). The text makes it an offence to demand more than six months' rent in advance on a tenancy exceeding six months, and more than one month on a monthly or shorter tenancy. In March 2026 the Rent Control Department announced full implementation of the Act from 1 April 2026.
It is the document a landlord of premises on a monthly or shorter tenancy must issue to the tenant within seven days after the tenancy starts, under section 20 of Act 220. It records the landlord's and tenant's names and addresses and the recoverable rent. If any detail changes, the landlord updates the card within seven days.
The person who receives the rent. The Ghana Revenue Authority gives a rate of 8% for residential premises and 15% for commercial and non-residential premises, payable within 30 days after the rent income is received. A tenant does not owe it on top of the rent unless they accepted a written clause saying so: read the agreement on this point.
On a monthly or shorter tenancy, not without the landlord's written consent: that is the wording of section 22 of Act 220. On a longer lease, the answer is in the contract. Have the permission or the ban written down before you sign, especially if you plan to share the apartment.
At the Rent Control Department. The Rent Officer investigates complaints from landlords, tenants and any person interested in the premises, and makes a determination (section 5 of Act 220). Bring the agreement, the rent card and your receipts. Office addresses and hours are not given here because we could not open an official page listing them: ask the ministry responsible for housing.
This answer is general and is not personal advice: before you commit, have your situation checked by a notary or a lawyer.
These rules apply to Ghana. They differ in other countries: see our general article on leases, deposits and notice (in French).
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