Connecting religion to homeownership: exploring local perspectives in Ghana

Abstract

In developed and emerging economies, religion is becoming popular as potentially influencing the achievement of homeownership aspirations. Yet, the understanding of the connection between religion and homeownership in the context of developing countries is far limited. The purpose of this study is to fill this conceptual gap by identifying the patterns of religious influences on homeownership in the Ghanaian context where deeper meanings are associated with religious beliefs and practices. The findings show homeownership is perceived as physical evidence of the blessings of God or being attained as the will of Allah. However, its attainment is shaped by certain religious directives pertaining to both family and social life. Also, homeownership enhances religious practices while rental status is seen to stifle the performance of certain religious practices. In that way, religious considerations are made in the pursuance of the transition from rental status to homeownership. These findings offer two major contributions. First, this study is the first study in the context of developing countries particularly Africa to explore how religiosity shape homeownership attainment. Secondly, it also offers practical policy implications for homeownership in developing countries.