Bulindo is primed for affordable construction

Although Bulindo is undergoing rapid development, it still maintains that charming countryside feel that is attractive for city dwellers. PHOTO BY ROLAND D. NASASIRA

One of the things that make home ownership an expensive venture is the cost of transporting constructing materials. Some property owners go an extra mile to have some of those materials made on the site to cut out transport costs. In Bulindo, however, every construction material needed is in plentiful supply within reasonable distances.

Location
Located approximately 16 kilometres from Kampala City centre, and approximately two kilometres from Kira main trading centre, Bulindo is one place that is experiencing rapid development. It attracts more residential than commercial dwellers.

The biggest benefit of buying land and constructing a house in Bulindo is the easy accessibility to building materials. Instead of incurring costs transporting, for example sand, from Lweera along Masaka Road, sand is plentiful in the area with a number of sand selling points, hardware shops dealing in all kinds of materials and a number of cement block manufacturing points. There are also quite a number of welders, dealing in all construction materials such as doors, windows, staircase rails, sliding and non-sliding gates, burglar proof, water tank stands, among others.

These businesses are evidently and visibly supported by the number of houses seen under construction. While there are many finished houses, there are also a great deal of those still under construction at different stages, from the foundation to finishing levels.
The topography of the area has not hindered people from setting up homes.

This, however, means you will have to spend some money to level the foundation before you start construction or better use materials such as rock stones to raise the foundation to the required level. However, there are some locations within the area that are somewhat flat and do not require a lot of work to commence construction.

Accessibility
Primarily, access to Bulindo is by private means. However, residents who do not own cars are also catered for. For example, you will be charged between Shs2,000 and Shs2,500 in a commuter taxi from Bulindo to Kampala City either via Kireka and Kyaliwajjala or via Kiwatule and Ntinda.

As is the practice with commuter taxis, transport is hiked in the morning hours because there are more passengers along the road trying to get to work early and equally more taxis trying to get home early in the evening from Kampala City centre.

However, if you leave home a bit late after 10am, when there are few passangers on the road, you can bargain with the taxi conductor for up to Shs1,500 up to the city centre.

Cost of living
Bulindo has a number of restaurants from where you can get affordable food at as low as Shs4,000 a meal. There are also quite a number of food stalls, retail shops and supermarkets dealing in all kind of foodstuff.

Cost of rent
Saddam Nkurunziza, a resident and businessman in the area, says renting a self-contained house with at least two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and indoor toilets costs Shs500,000, while a bigger one with three to four bedrooms costs between 650,000 and above.

Renting a single or two bedroom house, probably for a young family, with a living room and kitchen ranges from Shs250,000 to Shs350,000. According to Nkurunziza, the rent cost is in most cases determined by the distance of the house from the main road.

Security of the area
Much as most homes within Bulindo are surrounded by perimeter walls, while others installed with CCTV cameras, night patrols by local defence units are still carried out and these start at 10pm.

“If you are found moving past 10pm without identification in the area, you are arrested and taken for questioning,” Nkurunziza adds.
The road through Bulindo from Kira can lead you to other places such as Kalagi, Kayunga Road and Kasangati, among others.

Cost of land

He adds that the cost of land at Bulindo has increased steadily over the past few years as a result of the new wealthy residents for whom cost is not an issue, who have bought land and settled in the area. This set a precident that the land owners used to set their rates.

For instance, a 50x 100 feet plot of land costs between Shs80m to Shs85m while a 100x100 feet plot of land costs Shs100m and above.
“The further the plot is from the main road, the higher bargaining power you will have over the owner or seller and the nearer it is to the main road, the more costly it becomes,” he says.

If you are neither interested in renting nor buying a plot, there is also an option of buying an already finished house.
These are, however, rare and they come at a relatively high cost. For example buying a fenced off house of three to four bedrooms, dining room and sitting room costs at least Shs350m regardless of the distance of the house from the main road. The same amount of money can get you a house with similar number of rooms at Bulindo Estate

Over the door shelf
If you are running out of storage space in your bathroom, look no further than the area above the door. This space rarely gets used but can be a great place to store things you do not need daily. Get creative with a shelf out of reach to hold extra toiletries or concealed air fresheners and dispensers to keep your bathroom smelling clean.

Arinaitwe says, “A high shelf in the bathroom can also store seasonal items such as string lights and ornaments until needed. It is a perfect way to store all those extra bath products, towels and cleaning supplies. Try steel for a more modern industrial look or use a wooden floating shelf in a more traditional space.”

You can also install multiple rods for the towels at the back of the bathroom door using screw nails and wooden rods. If you opt for metallic rods, ensure to choose the type of metal that will not rust easily.