Location Matters More Than House Size When Buying Property – Architect Birmeh
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Architect Akua Birmeh is urging prospective homeowners to prioritise location over house size when buying or building property. She says commuting costs, access to essential services and daily travel time can outweigh the apparent savings from choosing a cheaper property farther from the city.
Prospective homeowners in Ghana have been advised to consider location as a major factor when buying or building property, rather than focusing primarily on the size or cost of a house.
Architect Akua Birmeh, Founder and Principal of Archxenus, said the location of a property can have a greater impact on quality of life than the size of the building. She made the comments during an interview on Joy FM's Super Morning Show on August 14, 2026.
According to Birmeh, many Ghanaians prioritise constructing large homes without adequately considering how far the property is from workplaces, schools, healthcare facilities, markets and other services. A larger house may appear to offer better value, but living far from essential destinations can introduce significant hidden costs.
These costs include transportation expenses, traffic congestion and long commuting hours, which can gradually offset the initial savings made by purchasing cheaper land or property on the outskirts of major cities.
Rising property prices in prime Accra neighbourhoods have pushed many middle-income households toward peripheral communities where land and homes are relatively more affordable. Birmeh, however, encouraged buyers to look beyond traditional prime locations without automatically choosing the most distant and cheapest options.
Instead, she recommended considering communities on the fringes of established neighbourhoods, where buyers may achieve a better balance between affordability and access to important amenities.
She also stressed that location decisions should reflect an individual's lifestyle and family requirements. For some buyers, proximity to work may be the priority, while families with children may place greater importance on schools, healthcare, shopping and recreational facilities.
The advice highlights an increasingly important consideration for Ghana's property market: the true cost of a home extends beyond its purchase price. As urban areas expand and housing becomes more expensive, buyers may need to evaluate commuting, infrastructure and access to services alongside the size and design of the property.
For property investors, locations with strong connectivity and access to established amenities may also offer greater long-term appeal, particularly as urban development continues to spread beyond Accra's traditional prime neighbourhoods.
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