Freehold, Leasehold, and the 50-Year Rule: What Foreign and Diaspora buyers can actually own in Ghana

Related Reading The Diaspora Investor's Checklist | MyJoyOnline Cantonments vs Airport Real Estate ROI: An Investor's Guide to Accra | MyJoyOnline The Quao Realty Blog: Buyer and Legal Guides | Quao Realty Sources Land Act 2020 (Act 1036), Sections 9 and 10, effective 23 December 2020 (full text via Ghana Parliament repository and legal databases) 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, restriction on foreign freehold ownership Property Databank (RICS and GhIS affiliated), Ghana Land and Property Guide (June 2026) Ownkey, Types of Land Title in Ghana Explained (May 2026) LexAfrica, Key Highlights of Ghana's Land Act 2020, on the 40 per cent non-Ghanaian company definition Herald Law GH and Ghana Bound, freehold vs leasehold analysis under Act 1036 (2025 to 2026) This is a sponsored feature.

As the RICS and GhIS-affiliated Property Databank guide states plainly, a non-citizen, including a diaspora member who does not hold Ghanaian citizenship, can legally own property but only on a leasehold basis, with a maximum term of 50 years, and cannot hold freehold regardless of how the transaction is described.

Section 10(6) of the Land Act 2020 provides that no interest may be created that vests in a non-citizen a leasehold for a term exceeding fifty years at any one time.