The Acting Rent Commissioner, Frederick Opoku, has warned private hostel operators that licences issued by the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) do not exempt them from Ghana’s rent laws.

🇬🇭 Here's What Happened

Speaking on the Joy FM Super Morning Show, during a discussion on the Rent Control Department’s crackdown on what it describes as exorbitant hostel fees, Mr Opoku said private hostels remain subject to rent regulation regardless of the amount invested in their businesses.

“Private hostels are not outside the law, simply because they are investors,” he said on Wednesday, August 19.

He explained that the Rent Control Department has the legal authority to assess rents across the country, including charges imposed by hotel and hostel facilities.

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“Under Section 10, rent control has a jurisdiction to assess all rent in this country, including hostel facilities,” Mr Opoku said.

According to him, hostel operators cannot unilaterally decide how much to charge without regard to the law. He urged them to apply to the Rent Control Department for an assessment if they want to operate within the law.

“Deciding how much you charge does not fall within your individual powers. The law behooves them, if they want to be fair and law-abiding, they should make an application for assessment.”

Mr Opoku said the department was already receiving applications from students over hostel charges and insisted that private hostels would eventually be assessed.

“Students are now making applications today at the Rent Control, and I am telling them that all of them will be assessed one by one sooner or later,” he said.

He also sought to clarify what he described as a misunderstanding over the different institutions that regulate private hostels.

📰 Source: Joy Online Ghana