SHC hires private firm to recover encroached lands

The State Housing Company Limited (SHC) has engaged a private asset recovery firm, Aynok Holdings Limited, to support a nationwide audit and recovery of its lands as a 21-day ultimatum to unauthorised occupants expires on Thursday, October 15, 2026.

The company announced the engagement at a press briefing in Accra on Tuesday, October 13, 2026.

The exercise is aimed at addressing encroachment, unauthorised occupation, expired leases, unapproved developments and the sale or subletting of SHC properties by persons without the requisite authority.

SHC Deputy Managing Director Samuel Atukwei Quaye said the company had lost revenue and experienced delays in housing projects due to the unauthorised occupation and use of its lands and properties.

“When the company is starved of its assets and of its revenue, it cannot fulfil its full mandate,” he said.

SHC, a state-owned housing developer established in 1956, manages 94 estates and more than 30,000 housing units across the country.

Mr Quaye said the company offered a 15 per cent discount in 2025 to clients with outstanding debts and arrears to encourage settlement.

He said SHC subsequently issued a warning to encroachers on February 16, 2026, but the notice was largely ignored. A final notice was published in the national media on September 24, 2026, giving occupants 21 days to regularise their occupation.

He stressed that the recovery exercise was not intended to render people homeless, adding that occupants with genuine documentation had nothing to fear.

According to him, people occupying SHC properties lawfully, as well as those willing to regularise their status or settle outstanding debts, would be given the opportunity to do so.

However, he warned that the company would take lawful action against persons who had no valid interest in the properties and failed to comply with the notice.

“No one, however placed, is above this exercise,” he said.

A notice issued by SHC’s Public Relations Department on February 16 cited the Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036), and warned of possible legal action, demolition of unauthorised structures, recovery of properties and collaboration with state security agencies.

Group Chief Executive of Aynok Holdings Limited, Clemence Gyato, said the privately owned Ghanaian company had supported public institutions in recovering encroached state lands since 2012.

He said Aynok would assist SHC with the audit and mapping of its lands, field operations, logistics and recovery activities where necessary, under the housing company’s direction.

Mr. Gyato emphasised that Aynok did not own, allocate or sell SHC lands, adding that decisions on the status of properties remained the sole responsibility of SHC.

He said the firm’s personnel would carry official identification and operate under written authorisation from SHC.

“No unlawful demolition, eviction or use of force will be carried out by or in the name of Aynok Holdings Limited,” he said.

He also said the firm’s personnel would neither solicit nor accept payments from members of the public in connection with the exercise.

Both companies cautioned the public against buying, leasing or developing SHC land without first verifying its status with the company.

They also urged the public to make payments related to SHC properties only through official company channels and to report demands for money or threats to the task force hotline or the nearest police station.