Single room self-contain (single room self contained)

The words tell you most of what you need. Single room means you rent one room to live and sleep in. Self-contain means the room has its own facilities, so you do not queue for a shared bathroom or toilet with other tenants.

In practice the unit is one main room with a private bathroom and toilet attached. Many also have a small kitchen corner or a porch where you can cook. Some sit inside a compound house with other units around a shared yard; others are in purpose-built blocks of similar rooms, often with a gate and a caretaker.

On Ghana Property Centre these units are listed under the self-contained apartment pages, so a search for a self-contain in a particular area shows them together with other self-contained units.

Advertisers use the label loosely. One listing may mean a room with a full bathroom and kitchen, while another means a room with only a private toilet and a shared bathroom. Read the description and the photos, and ask before you view.

Renting follows the same rules as any other home. The Rent Act and PNDCL 138 apply, the landlord should register the tenancy with Rent Control, and the law limits how much rent can be demanded in advance (see advance rent).

The term is used across the country. In Greater Accra it is the most searched housing phrase we track, with demand concentrated in fast-growing suburbs where many new single-room blocks are being built. In Kumasi and other regional capitals the same unit is common, and the label "self contain" on its own is often used for it. Names for the kitchen area vary: some listings say kitchenette, some say porch kitchen, some say nothing at all.