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In the capital of Ghana, Accra, there are, on average, more than three households per house, a situation which calls for an analysis of pressure on residential housing from two angles: that the majority of households live in rented homes, and that the notion of cohabitation allows for the combination, on a small scale, of three separate types of residential status. The spread of rental housing leads to various types of ownership and transmission of property, which this article seeks to illustrate via the study of seven sites in the metropolitan area. The links between social ownership systems and the rental market emphasize the specific situation of “free holders” who share the usufruct of inherited properties. Depending on the housing available and the history of local settlements, these links demonstrate the limitations of the terms “household” and “accommodation,” and in fact expose a situation of acute housing shortage and a wide range of social practices in Ghana.