Uganda: Guide to Buying Costs and Procedures
In Depth
- Overview
- Rental Yields
- Taxes and Costs
- Tax on Rent (Example)
- Tax on Gains (Example)
- Buying Guide
- Landlord and Tenant
- Inheritance
- Living There
- Country Statistics
Directory
Global Statistics
Regional Statistics
- Buy/Sell Costs
- Rental Income Tax
- Capital Gains Tax
- Landlord & Tenant Law
- GDP Per Capita
- GDP/Cap Growth 1 yr
- GDP/Cap Growth 5 yrs
- Economic Freedom
- Ec. Freedom 5 yrs
- Competitiveness
- Property Rights Index
- Currency +/- Value
Ugunda's total transaction costs are moderate
How high are realtors’ and lawyers’ fees in the Uganda? What about other property purchase costs?
Transaction Costs |
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| Who Pays? | ||
| Legal Fees | UGS1,000,000 (US$543) | buyer |
| Property Valuation | UUGS500,000 (US$272) | buyer |
| Surveyor Fee | UGS300,000-UGS500,000 (US$163-US$272) | buyer |
| Transfer Fee | UGS20,000 (US$11) | buyer |
| Title Search | UGS10,000-UGS12,000 (US$5-US$7) | buyer |
| Consent to Transfer | UGS10,000 (US$5) | buyer |
| Stamp Duty | 1% | buyer | Agent's Commission | 5%-10% | seller |
| Costs paid by buyer | 2.5% - 2.7% | |
| Costs paid by seller | 5% - 10% | |
| ROUNDTRIP TRANSACTION COSTS | 7.5% - 12.7% | |
| See Footnotes Source: Global Property Guide |
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How difficult is the property purchase process in Uganda?
The 1995 Constitution grants land ownership rights solely to citizens of Uganda. Foreigners cannot own land freehold. They may, however, obtain leases for 49 or 99 years. Foreign investors, individual or corporate, cannot acquire land for the purpose of crop or animal production. Foreigners can either rent/lease from citizens or from the Government.
A real estate lawyer is needed in real estate transactions in Uganda. When offer on the property is accepted by the seller, due diligence follows. The lawyer conducts a title search and obtains the transfer forms from the Land Office.
A licensed surveyor then visits the property to establish the boundaries. Depending on size and location, this can take up to three days. When this has been done, the transfer forms is submitted to the Land Office to receive consent to transfer. The property is inspected by a government valuer to ascertain proper taxation. An assessment form is given to the buyer, which is then presented to a commercial bank for payment of stamp duty.
When all has been cleared, the lawyer draws up the sale agreement. A deposit of 20% is paid upon signing, with the remaining balance to be settled within 30 to 60 days.
The transfer forms are then submitted, together with the signed sale agreement and stamp duty receipt, to the Registrar's Department of the Land Office, and registration fee is paid. This process, dealing with the Registrar's Department, takes about three weeks to accomplish.
Footnotes to Transaction Costs Table
The round trip transaction costs include all costs of buying and then re-selling a property ' lawyers' fees, notaries' fees, registration fees, taxes, agents' fees, etc.
Uganda - more data and information
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Your Comments
posted by robin denton | 2008-01-21
writer, london
i would question if you can buy land or not. surely it is inthe interest of the ugandan government to sell land for development purposes...