Why real estate agents need to be regulated

Property managers and developers are seeing the need to regulate their sector before it bursts into the financial meltdown that hit the West a couple of years ago.

The search for regulation
Mr Obbo says the Ministry is preparing a policy that will cover issues of real estate, brokerage, property management, real estate marketing, real estate services, among others, even the registration of real estate dealers. The policy is expected in July this year, he adds.
“Our view, our best professional way of doing it is we would be having a real estate regulatory authority; an institution that oversees issues of the real estate players, and this institution can develop rules of the game for developers, rules of the game for agents, and for other players, such that the sector is streamlined,” says Mr Agaba.

“There must be a criterion,” he adds. “The people calling themselves real estate agents should be registered at a ministerial level, such that if you are going to transact as a broker, you should be known that you do this business. They should belong to the association of real estate agents of Uganda, so that we can have two checks.

“We need a law to say that if you are going to participate in this industry, you need this level of education. We have the trainings now. Makerere University Business School and Kyambogo University have a bachelor’s degree in Real Estate Management, which we worked together to form. A company must be registered at the registrar of companies, have a trading licence, and build a level of professionalism so the public can confide in these people.”

Mr Agaba says even if it is individual players in the industry currently calling for regulation, the government has every reason to be interested in it too. The regulation will give protection to students studying land management courses at universities from unemployment. He adds that registered companies contribute to the growth of the country, through employing people and paying taxes. The more unregulated real estate agents there are, the more revenue the country loses.

The regulation sought now is the early stages of industry players, trying to partner with the state in bringing order to a sector of the economy that has a knock-on effect on nearly all other sectors; for land, is central to any business. And because it is right to assume that every adult strives to own a house and land, the fear of fraudulent individuals should act as a catalyst to create interest in real estate regulation.

jabimanyi@ug.nationmedia.com