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Ghana has had a long series of overthrown government, which has resulted in different housing policies being implemented with every new government.

Several housing policies have been implemented, with differing emphases on housing subsidy, from the colonial era to the present day. The political factor in the nation's history cannot, therefore, be ignored in the housing policies that have evolved over the years, as a series of coups d'état led to the abolishment of the housing policy of the predecessor government. The housing policy of the colonial era did not hinge on the provision of mass housing, but rather focused on the provision of subsidized rental bungalow-housing for the colonial bureaucracy. In addition to this, the colonial state acquired and serviced land mainly for granting leases to more the affluent strata of the African population.

Access to those plots was determined by one's ability to build an expensive European style house. The provision of low-income housing, and land acquisition for such activity, was left to the free market except for a few interventions by the state to re-house the victims of the 1924 plague in Kumasi and the 1939 earthquake in Accra (Songsore, 2003).

After independence, the total direction of the economy in terms of housing was direct state delivery of housing units. The housing policy at that time was centralized, with subsidy packages made available to increase ownership of houses in the country in the form of roof loans schemes, self-help housing schemes, public housing and the provision of serviced sites to developers for housing construction. Loans were provided to over 3,000 Ghanaians, with building materials and serviced sites provided for those who wanted to build for themselves. Mass production of housing units for public sector workers was also embarked upon by the government as a means of ensuring that people had access to shelter at an affordable rate.

The government invested GB £9,100,000 in state housing institutions, which enabled the State Housing Corporation (SHC) and the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) to respectively deliver 1,052 and 10,700 low-cost housing units for workers. The year of 1966, however, saw the overthrow of the government and an end to this policy.

From 1969 to 1972, with a new government in place, the role of the state changed from a direct housing provider to a facilitator. Private sector participation in housing provision was encouraged, with the government establishing the Bank for Housing and Construction (BHC) to provide construction loans at moderate terms to citizens. All rental subsidies were withdrawn over this period and rents on state housing units increased to be used for further development of housing.

The Acheapong administration (1972-1979) suspended the housing policy of the previous administration. Subsidies were, however, re-introduced, as housing was considered a basic human right, which the state must help to provide and guarantee its availability.

Housing investment increased in the public sector with TDC delivering 7,380 subsidized housing units. Policies such as site and services provision, slum-upgrading programmes, rural and urban cooperative housing and self-help housing schemes were introduced. A decree (SMCD 23, 1985) was passed which enabled the Bank of Ghana to operate a national mortgage and finance guarantee scheme. The scheme promoted the construction of owner-occupier houses, provided indemnity for financial institutions incurring default loss and established a secondary mortgage market. Tax concessions, mortgage guarantees and other incentives were provided to the building industry to encourage and stimulate the development and use of local building materials. Rural housing was given attention through manpower training and the rehabilitation of existing houses leading to improved housing quality in the rural areas.

In 1979 and 1981, a coup d'état brought in a new government. Funding and infrastructure grants to the state housing institutions were withdrawn, with rent controls on both public and private sector housing instituted. ANational Housing Policy was implemented leading to the liberalization of the housing sector. GREDA and the HFC were then established in 1988 and 1993 respectively. The government only undertook slum-upgrading programmes as a means of improving the environmental situations in the urban centre, leaving the private sector to deliver housing. Public housing delivery stood at 41,728 in 2000.