SmartRent

Sikadan Homes

SmartRent

SmartRent is a cost-effective rent payment solution for low-income households.

Accra, Ghana

GHA

For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models

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In most African countries, landlords do not accept monthly rent payment from tenants. Tenants have no option than to raise huge upfront rent advance in order to occupy a decent accommodation. According to iBAN Ghana Housing Report by GIZ, about 1.6 Million Households are in need of affordable housing solution at any point in Ghana. The upfront payment of the rent advance usually ranges from 1 year , creating financial burden for an average households. Consequently, tenants resort to loans to pre-finance their rent advance at high interest rate . This increase their rent by at least 36% or more per year. According to the Ghana Statistical Services 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC) , the average household size is 3.6 with urban area having smaller households (3.2-3.5 people) and larger household size for rural areas (4-4.5 people). This indicate the magnitude of impact of this problem on people in Ghana. Ghana is classified as a lower-middle income country with a GNI per capita of $2,200 in 2023 and with minimum wage of GHc18.15 per day (about $1.2) according the World Bank and Ghana Statistical Services respectively. This income does not match up with their housing cost.

SmartRent is a cost-effective rent payment solution that enable low-income households to pay their rent monthly and timely. To access it, tenants submit their application and sign up as premium user via our website. Application is then assessed by the team to determine eligibility and risk profile. If applicant is determined as eligible, a conditional offer is given to him/her indicating our willingness to enroll him/her unto the SmartRent . These conditions include the lodging of Vault Rent (VR) which is a refundable % of the rent advance to mitigate our risk exposure and also a SignUp Fee (SF) which is an an annual onboarding fee. Once all these conditions are met , we pay off the rent advance to the Landlord , making us the primary tenant to the Landlord and allowing the tenant to repay to us on a monthly frequency. We do not pre-finance the rent , we become the primary tenant by buying a longer lease from the landlord which then makes us the 'new' landlord to the applicant so we can allow them to pay monthly without any interest rate. (Our Yet To Be Launched New WebApp : https://sikadan-homes.webflow.io/about-us)

Our target population include both the low and middle income households across all the regions in Ghana. Ghana is classified as a lower-middle income country with a GNI per capita of $2,200 in 2023 and with minimum wage of GHc18.15 per day (about $1.2)according the World Bank and Ghana Statistical Services respectively. This population form about 95% of the Ghanaian population with an average monthly salary ranging form $150 to $450 according to the Ghana Revenue Authority, ILO and GSS surveys. Unfortunately the average rent advance per year for a decent one bedroom accommodation ranges from $750 which i s far above their monthly salary. But with the SmartRent model, they are offered a non interest rate monthly rent which adequately match up their available monthly cash at hand. According to the Ghana Statistical Services 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC) , the average household size is 3.6 with urban area having smaller households (3.2-3.5 people) and larger household size for rural areas (4-4.5 people). The supply of housing (both rental and home ownership) in Ghana are often not targeted at the needs of the low and middle income households and it takes an additional loan for them to meet those needs.