The Uganda Bankers Association (UBA) has said they want to discuss with government their concerns with the Landlord and Tenants Bill 2018 before it is assented into law by President Museveni.
Wilbrod Owor, the UBA Executive Director, said as bankers they still have concerns with some of the provisions in the law which government might have to listen to. UBA is an umbrella body that brings together 24 commercial banks in the country.
MPs passed the Landlord and Tenants Bill 2018 last week, but it has been vehemently rejected by most property owners, funders and real estate agents. The passed bill provides that all rents be settled in shillings unless provided any other enactment.
Read Also: Parliament of Uganda passes Landlord and Tenant Bill
Owor says that their concerns were also on settling all rents in Uganda shillings yet there are property owners who have borrowed in the hard currency to build houses. This creates a mismatch payment, he said.
This week, Knight Frank said the investors that had entered the deal to buy the Metroplex Shopping Mall in Naalya had reservations before they could completely seal the deal.
A Mauritius firm Gateway Delta announced late last month it was buying the mall and that it would spend more than $10m to redevelop it.
Vincent Agaba, the chairman of the Association of Real Estate Agents (AREA), said they needed something like the real estate regulatory authority instead of government going down to regulate the currency of settlement.
Kampala traders, under their umbrella Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA), pushed for this law to be passed because their landlords compelled them to pay rent in dollars.
– URN
