A study of housing conditions and characteristics in the Tamale Metropolitan Area, Ghana

• There is a link between housing conditions, health of residents and poverty levels.
• Housing conditions vary across residential areas and between poor and wealthy households.
• High level of residential crowding was observed in IRAs, MCRAs, and LCRFs.
• Majority of houses in the Metropolitan area lack essential in-house facilities.

Despite the growing recognition of the connexion between good housing and quality of life, many nations in the developing world are still unable to initiate effective housing programmes that ensure the provision of housing in sufficient quantities and quality to improve the wellbeing of citizens. This study examined the housing conditions of households in the Tamale Metropolitan Area of Northern Ghana focusing on the effect of wealth or residential class on housing characteristics in the area. The paper draws on the results of a survey of 199 households in the Tamale Metropolitan Area, to present a comprehensive analysis of the city's housing conditions highlighting the contrast between ecological areas of the city and between the wealth stratifications of households. The results revealed vast differences in housing conditions across residential areas and between poor and wealthy households in the city. The result is that housing conditions are substandard in the city especially in its poor and disadvantaged neighbourhoods where the majority of the urban poor reside.