Article Urban Studies 1–20 Ó Urban Studies Journal Limited 2017 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0042098017724092 journals.sagepub.com/home/usj Recognising the barriers to securing affordable housing through the land use planning system in Sub-Saharan Africa: A perspective from Ghana Felix SK Agyemang University of Cambridge, UK Nicky Morrison University of Cambridge, UK Abstract Housing low-income households is a daunting task for policy makers across the Global South, and especially for those in Africa where past attempts to deliver State-funded affordable housing proj- ects yielded minimal results. Presenting Ghana as a case study, the purpose of this article is to con- sider the rationale for and barriers to securing affordable housing through the planning system, situated within an African context. The key factors that would inhibit effective policy implementa- tion include, on the one hand, a lack of central government commitment, weak enforcement of planning regulations and low capacity of local planning authorities, and, on the other hand, the dominance of customary land ownership and the informal nature of housing delivery. That not- withstanding, undertaking a mapping exercise of large-scale formal residential developments built across Greater Accra in recent years, the article suggests that there is an opportunity cost in not attempting to extract some form of economic rent from the private sector. By having an already established nationalised development rights system alongside a rising formal real estate market, there is in effect scope for introducing planning obligations in the longer term. Whilst by necessity, it takes time to fully establish and enforce this form of land value capture legislation; nonetheless, if the principles can be established, transferable lessons exist across Africa and the Global South. Keywords affordable housing, Africa, land value capture, planning gain, planning system Corresponding author: Nicky Morrison, Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, 19 Silver Street, Cambridge, CB3 9EP, UK. Email: nm10001@cam.ac.uk