Abstract
Meeting the housing needs of low-income populations remains one of the greatest challenges facing national and local governments in Ghana. As government policy continues to shift toward an enabling approach, access to housing for the poor has become increasingly constrained, and residential mobility in the pro-poor housing sector has become more prevalent. This paper examines the drivers of housing mobility in low-income communities in Tamale using a mixed-methods approach. We analysed participants’ housing satisfaction to understand how relocation practices are informed by households’ prior housing experiences in the city. The study recorded a high level of satisfaction with general living conditions in the low-income housing system. We found that residents derive a considerable degree of place utility; however, certain aspects of the living environment were found to generate dissatisfaction and to motivate household relocation decisions. In light of the renewed global interest in residential tenure security for the poor, research and policy efforts must seek to better understand housing practices and residential mobility dynamics in low-income communities, in order to propose measures aimed at integrating these practices into the urban fabric as part of the broader goal of achieving inclusive urban development. Accordingly, any policy seeking to promote a stable housing regime in low-income communities must recognise these mobility-enabling factors and devise context-specific measures to improve living conditions. In this regard, the primary entry point should be at the unit level, with efforts geared toward improving the management and use of in-house services to minimise conflicts over the use of and payment for utility services.