New Landlord and Tenant Law stops landlords from increasing rent by over 10 percent in a year

By Our Reporter

Parliament of Uganda passed yesterday passed the new the Landlord and Tenant Tenants Bill 2018, into an Act. It prohibits landlords from increasing rent by over 10 percent in a single year.

The law was proposed sometime back to deal with challenges many Ugandans complained of which include; being asked to pay rent in US Dollars by landlords, landlords arbitrarily changing tenancy terms such as the amount of rent to be paid and arbitrary evictions and the unclear laws on tenancy evictions

There are also a few twists as well, if you are paying rent of Shs 500,000 or more, the tenancy agreement has to be made in writing or through data messages- otherwise it is not enforceable.

One of the biggest points though is that the landlord is required to apply to Court for an eviction order if the tenant fails to leave when lawfully required to.

The Act is not yet law however, the next step is for it to be taken to the President to sign off on it and should he assent to it, then the Act will be law, pending its coming into force which is normally determined by the Minister in charge.