My faithful contractor eased the building process

Anthony William Wanyoto saved for two years before he started constructing his house and by the time he completed it, he had spent Shs100m. Photos by Edgar R Batte

What you need to know:

Anthony William Wanyoto had always dreamt of owning a house and he saved for two years before he put the first brick on his house.

My name is Anthony William Wanyoto, a media consultant married with four children. I got the idea to start building a house in 1995. At the time, I was still in high school.
Every holiday, I admired the way my elder brother, Francis Namugowa, sat on the table to plan the construction of their house with his wife. I liked the idea and promised myself that when I get money, I would do the same.
When I was older and had started working, my brother started talking to me about acquiring or working towards getting property.
My girlfriend, who later became my wife, also started encouraging me to start considering putting some money aside to enable us put up a home for the family. In fact, this became one of the qualities that made me like her very much.

BUYING LAND

I took my brother’s and wife’s advice seriously and started saving part of my salary. It was not easy because this was from a relatively small salary. I had the satisfaction that this was money that would help me realise something permanent.
I first secured land of 80 feet by 100 feet in 1998 along Busabala Road. The land cost me Shs4.4m. I was lucky because it had a house foundation on it. So I had somewhere I would begin building and would save on some materials.
At the time, I had started doing some agriculture which I managed to start from my savings. So, I was saving money from the salary and from the agricultural projects. When I had saved Shs10m for a period of two years, I felt I could start constructing my house.
My original plan was to put up a nice double-storeyed house given the size of the plot. But I failed to get approval of my plan by Kampala City Council (KCC) then so I settled for a bungalow. I walked with my wife all the journey of the construction. Even when I bought the land, I went with her to see the land for her approval. Again, I was lucky and happy that she liked it.
Luckily, I was not paying rent at the time. My brother, Namugowa, had a big house and was kind enough to accommodate me at his house for a while, which helped me to save almost every penny I would get.

HOUSE PLAN AND BUILDING

When I felt I had saved enough and I was ready to start building by 2000, I had all materials that would enable me construct the house to the wall plate.
I had a trusted builder who I was sure would not take me through the stress of stolen materials or any related unprofessional work. He had been recommended by my brother.
My plan was for a six-roomed house consisting of the master bedroom, sitting room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom and children’s room.
The contractor calculated the number of bricks, sand and cement he needed to build the house to the wall plate. I gave it to him. Then for labour, he broke down the cost as per building phases. Foundation, brick works, ring brim, roofing, plastering, fitting, plumbing, wiring, painting, wall building and compound paving all had different costings.
I built the house in three phases and by the time we got to the wall plate, I had spent about Shs20m but in cases where I did not have money, the contractor would use his money and I would pay him later.
This put me in a fairly comfortable position because he documented all the materials he used at the different phases of the construction process. We would visit the site over the weekend with my wife and he would brief us about the work he would have done in the week. He would also give me a work plan of the work ahead, so I knew what to expect and how to prepare for the costs he would later present to me.
I completed the house in 2008 and I spent approximately Shs100m on the house, to the completion stage. I remember the items on which I spent much money were fittings like aluminum windows and door, the tiles, bathroom and kitchen ware. I also incurred some costs to construct the road to my house as it was in a sorry state.

quick tips

Use whatever little you have.
You will never have enough money to build. Save slowly and start by buying land.

Distance does not matter
The issue of location of one’s home seems to be important to young people. I can tell them that there is no far place from Kampala.
Places which are located away from the capital city or its close suburbs are not getting all the necessary social services like roads, electricity and water.

Make money from your house
When my house was complete I decided to make some money off it, so the first occupants of our house were tenants. At this point I had been promoted at the job and I was entitled to a house in which I stayed with my girlfriend.

Size of the plot does not matter.
It is the plan of the house that matters the most. I also learnt that it is important to create time and understand what materials are being used on your house.

The numbers

Shs10m
Amount of money he had when he started building his house

Shs100m
Total amount of money he spent on the construction of his house