To pay Shs300,000 a month for rent or build a small house of Shs1.5m

Rent is an expensive venture, so is building a house. However, the discipline in renting would sometimes give one a foundation to owning their first house.

Today, the house rent rates in Kampala have gone through the roof, to find a decent self-contained house with one bedroom and a sitting room in a good location within Kampala, one would have to part with between Shs350,000 and Shs400,000.

Although on the lower side, as you move deeper to in the outskirts, Shs300,000 would get you a good house to rent a month.

There are some exceptions as one moves deeper, and it is possible the money could be too much that one finds themselves a three-bedroom deep in Wakiso for example.

But, let us imagine you want to rent out of the picture and are willing to take all inconvenience to start up something small, which may bring you to the foundation of your dream house with the much you could save on rent.

Did you know that for Shs1.5million, it is possible to put up an enclosed structure enough to accommodate you and you bid rent bye-bye?

The first assumption we have is that you already own a piece of land somewhere.

You would need about 2000 bricks and this could cost you about Shs200,000

Find between four and five bags of cement which should cost you between Shs120,000 and Shs150,000.

Organise one and a half trips of sand, this should cost one about Shs150,000.

The other things required at that point include; dpc, nails of different sizes, about two vents, among other smaller items whose budget can shift here and there but should not cost much.

Nails for example should be covered with a budget of about Shs80,000.

When at the roofing level, the structure will take about 8 iron sheets at Shs200,000. At this point you start shutters; A fairly good door goes for Shs150,000 and the window should cost half of that.

In terms of labor, get one person to contract and pay them Shs200,000 for the project.

In case, you do not have water on the site and need to purchase it for building purposes, put aside Shs100,000 for the project.

At this point, you have spent about Shs1.2m and you have a rough structure, you can then go ahead and finish it to your expectations and budget.

Depending on expectations, plastering, and final finishes for such a house would cost about shs300,000 on the higher end.

This can be even for those who are not after staying in the house but putting a structure in their land for a caretaker. Or the figures here can help with the multiplier effect, you can go big, and have two rooms or three and you should be able to play around the figures.

On the other hand, this could only serve as an inspiration to someone out there, who has fears at beginning construction. It is never as costly as you hear it.