Monday, February 3, 2003
Sale of Uganda 'Condo' Flats Starts this Month
By DAVID MUSOKE
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
UGANDA'S state-run National Housing and Construction Corporation (NHCC) will this month start disposing of some of its flats under the "condominium law," a senior official with the corporation has said.
"We have hired a local firm, Bagaine and Company, to value the first batch of flats in Kampala; we expect it to finalise the job in two weeks' time, after which we shall offer them to prospective buyers," NHCC acting managing director, Peters Musoke, told The EastAfrican.
Bagaine and Company Valuers are among the four firms shortlisted by the NHCC board of directors to carry out valuation whenever the service is required. The company audited the corporation's assets in 2000.
Uganda�s condominium statute, under which flats sharing common facilities like ground and plumbing systems can be sold to individuals, was enacted by parliament in December 2000 and was assented to by the president in January 2001.
Mr Musoke, who is also the NHCC secretary, said a number of factors had delayed the sale.
"Before sale of property under the condominium law is undertaken, there must be regulations spelling out the terms and conditions of such a sale," he explained.
These regulations were set by the Ministry of Works, Housing and Communications.
"A local consulting firm, Eco-Shelter, was hired through competitive bidding to prepare a condominium plan for the flats to be sold off, the plan is to be handed over to the Registrar of Titles when it is ready," Mr Musoke said.
A total of 98 flats in Kampala are up for sale in the first lot.
These are 80 flats in Kololo, eight in Mbuya, six on Lumumba Avenue and four on Mackinon Road in Nakasero.
The first offer will be made to tenants who are currently residing in the flats after which they will be advertised and sold to successful bidders.
"NHCC is negotiating with the National Housing Finance of Uganda Ltd and the Development Finance Company of Uganda to provide mortgage funding to the buyers of the flats," the official said.
The money raised through the sales would be used by the corporation to build more housing units for sale.
The corporation is listed among public enterprises that are to be sold under the Public Enterprises Reform and Divestiture statute. The corporation owns hundreds of housing units throughout the country that are operating profitably.
Mr Musoke said that the condominium statute was a new concept in Uganda and Africa, which required every concerned authority to put its "house in order" before effecting the sale.
"Previously, property meant the land and the buildings on it. Its owner could decide to build downwards or upwards all the way to heaven," he said.
"But the condominium concept enables residents in flats to buy their residences and share in common items like land and plumbing as well as the skies."
The official said that the concept of a condominium statute had been applied successfully in countries like Australia, Canada and New Zealand to enable residents in blocks of flats to own houses. The owners of the flats then form a corporation to manage the common services they share.
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