Bujjuko: Close enough to Kampala and affordable

Bujjuko is one of the villages that lie along Mityana Road, where favourable prices of land are pushing property sales through the roof.

It is 26 kilometres outside Kampala. It takes about 40 minutes to get to this burgeoning residential area. A 14-seatre public taxi to Bujjuko costs Shs2500.

Bujjuko’s gentle hills and swampy valleys, make it not only an endearing place to live, but also very fertile and homey. But because Bujjuko has previously been perceived to be too far away from the city, few city dwellers have seen it as a place to build a home.

Places like Bulenga and Buloba that lie along the same highway are much closer to the city have for years been more desirable.

There has been intensive property growth in areas around the city like Nansana, Nalumunye, Ndejje, Kirinya, Kira and Gayaza. These places are now saturated and too expensive.

For this reason, property traders and buyers are moving further out, looking for cheaper places. One such place is Bujjuko.

The planned new road
The favourable prices might be determined by the 26-kilometre between Bujjuko and Kampala, but that is not the only reason land in the area is suddenly much sought after.

There is a planned new road that will connect Kakiri town on Hoima road to Katende town on Masaka road. That road, which is in the innitial stages of construction, intersect with Mityana road at Bujjuko.

For that reason alone, property traders of all sizes are buying large acreages to cut them into smaller home-size plots to resale at profit.

Real estate speculators are buying those plots in droves from real estate companies to resell later at a profit.

Other buyers are genuinely procuring space on which to build their homes from which they will commute daily to work in Kampala city.

Standard plots
Standard plots of 50 by 100 feet, with free hold title deeds go for as low as Shs7m. The price is determined by how far the plot is from the main road.

There is a beautiful, flat-topped hill near Bujjuko town called Bulamazi that might interest anyone willing to grow their savings.

Plots in Bulamazi are not only on a beautiful hill, but also affordable. Depending on the view that the plot accords the buyer, the prices here range between Shs6m and Shs8m. With a title deed. The hill is barely four kilometres away from Mityana Road.

In Naalya village, which is barely a kilometre south of Bujjuko Town, plots go for as low as Shs14m.

Naalya be may be close to the road and with an amazing view of the plains eastward towards Kampala, but a big number of plots here are the small nonstandard ones. This means that when it is fully developed in the near future, it will be a slum-like residence.

Nalubugo is the village not far from Naalya. Standard plots here go for as low as Shs12m. That amount, with a title deed in hand, is not a bad investment.

The plots in Kasana, which is also a kilometre away from the main road, to the north along the road to Kakiri Town are more desirable. The best located ones go for Shs18m to Shs20m.

Further up north, about five kilometres towards Kakiri Town, there is an estate managed by one of the major property companies. Those who would rather deal with bigger companies can buy standard plots here at Shs11m and Shs12m.

The village is called Kwata and is much more developed than the other areas mentioned. The reason might be that big property companies advertise better than smaller traders who deal in smaller plots, or because naturally, buyers tend to trust more established traders.

Be a property trader
There are several acres in all these villages that are still on sale to anyone who has the money to pay for them.

In Naalya village, which lies on the southerly road from Bujjuko, for instance, there are two acres going for Shs170m.

An acre (bought at Shs85m) will give you about 16 standard plots of which each goes for Shs15m at the current market price. That is Shs240m back from each acre before paying the surveyors and brokers.