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Why you should buy property on Kasangati-Matugga road now
Buwambo, one of the villages on Kasangati-Matugga Road that are growing fast, and still have affordable land. Photo by Tony Mushoborozi
What you need to know:
Beyond the fact that kasangati-Matugga road is so close to Kampala city, the new road will step the game up for you. According to one property trader in Kira area, a tarmac road always causes land prices to triple.
The government is on the verge of constructing a road along the northern outskirts of Kampala city. The planned road, called the Kampala Outer Ring Road, will start in Kira Town, east of Kampala and run westward through Kasangati, Matugga and Wakiso towns. It is planned to continue westward until Nsangi on Masaka Road. The objective of the new road is to decongest Kampala city and reduce the crippling traffic jams.
Today, those plans are in advanced procurement stages according to Allan Ssempebwa, an official at Uganda National Roads Authority. “I cannot confirm to you when the construction starts but the design stage is complete. The next stage of the project is tendering,” he says.
This is good news not just for the residents in the villages along this route, who are about to see the last of dust and mud. It is also good news for property traders and brokers. It is great news for property speculators too. With this news, you can invest in property in the area with a firm belief that the capital value will double or triple long before completion of the road project. Prospective property sellers along this stretch are about to get the best offers for their land.
If you have never found a good reason to take a bank loan, this is it. Talk to anyone in the property business and they will tell you that new roads always bring unprecedented returns on investment.
Why Kasangati-Matugga
Though the new road is slated to start in Kira town, the area between Kira and Kasangati is already saturated with high property demand. Chances of getting a great piece of land in a good location are either too slim or too costly.
The prices are likely already too high for most ordinary property investors. This is not the case with Kasangati-Matugga Road.
The property boom does not seem to have arrived here yet. And for an area just over 10 kilometres out of Kampala, this is a rare situation. Nearby localities as close as two kilometres away cannot boast of such tranquility. Villages of Kasangati, Magere, Wampeewo, Kitagobwa, Kitezi and Gayaza are all dotted with construction sites and new homes, but not here. The villages here are still largely untouched.
Driving along the dusty road that starts in the valley just west of Kasangati Town, not much else is seen along the way other than leafy trees and shrubs indigenous to this part of the country. There is more indigenous vegetation than crops here. It’s the first sign that the area has been left untouched.
The dirt road takes you up a gentle hill and down a flat valley and up another hill for some 10 kilometres westward until it joins Bombo Road at Matugga. Villages on this road such as Nangabo, Nakanaku, Mawule, Kitti, Buwambo and others, are all less than 15 kilometres from Kampala city. Smaller access roads leave these villages leading southward toward the city and that is a good thing.
And yet, for some reason, these villages are still largely deserted by property developers. Young workers looking to finally build their first homes have so far overlooked this side of town.
Land prices
The news of a new tarmac road is about to change status quo though. Just do not be left behind. The big property companies are still discovering the area and one of them is already in possession of a large piece of land around Kitti, a town on Kasangati-Matugga.
The price of land has been going up over the last one year. A resident in Nakanaku, who bought her roadside 50X100ft plot in May of 2017 at Shs27m says a plot of the same specifications in the neighbourhood will not change hands below the Shs50m mark now.
That price is not reason to develop cold feet though.
According to Robert Sebagala, a property trader in Kitti, that price is for commercial plots. He says that plots that are more suited for residences are still as low as Shs10m for a 50x100 ft plot in some places and adds that plots on Kabaka’s land are even cheaper. There are 50x100 plots at as low as Shs5m.
Sebagala says: “The price is mostly dependent on how far the plot is from the main road. It is also dependent on the desirability of a particular village. For example, standard plots in Nangabo (desirable because it is two kilometres from Kasangati) go for between Shs35 and Shs40m. In Mawule they go for Shs30m, in Kitti they go for Shs25m, in Buwambo Shs18m, and in Mbogo Shs10m. Mbogo is about 4 kilometres away from where the new road will pass.”
Go check this place out. A few years from now, you will smile to the bank. Just make sure to send our brokerage fees when that time comes.
The YMCA attraction
YMCA institute in Buwambo. Like any other place with an institution of higher learning, there is noticeable economic vibrancy in the area.
For anyone who is looking to invest in affordable rental homes, Buwambo is the better option along this stretch of road. The big numbers of students are an opportunity to earn big in affordable rentals that is demamnded by not just the students, but by other workers that have been attracted to the area.
