Uganda tipped on emulating Dubai property market

By Billy Rwothungeyo                                            

KAMPALA - Uganda needs to work on strong regulations if the property market is to become as competitive as the United Arab Emirates’, Nishat Bandali, the Chief Executive Officer of Dubai’s Candour Real Estate has advised.

“They (Dubai authorities) have spent a lot of time developing the stringent rules and regulations in buying an asset to protect the buyer’s rights,” he said at an event in Kampala commemorating a partnership between Knight Frank Uganda and Candour Real Estate.

“You feel safe because everything is now in writing. It is a safe market, eight years ago? There were no laws. It was free for all,” he said.

Moses Dennis Lutalo, the Head of Property Management commercial and Residential at Knight Frank Uganda reiterated why Uganda needs more stringent regulations.

“When you are operating in an environment with no regulation, you are exposing the investor to a lot risk. We do not have a property index in Kampala, if someone came and asked for a trend in the performance of properties over the years, you are not going to give that data with a certain level of precision,” he said.

Recently, Daudi Migereko, the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development has said the business of real estate in Uganda must be streamlined.

 “There must be qualifications and requirements for one to participate in the business of real estate. It must be regulated,” he said.

“Some of the confusion that we are having in the land registry is because anybody wakes up, sees a piece of land, and says I am the agent for that land.”