Shops and Commercial Buildings for Sale in Kampala

Are there shops and commercial buildings for sale on Land & Property?

Not today. Our listings snapshot of 3 November 2026 shows 93 published listings, made up of plots, farmland, houses and apartments. None is a shop, office block or other commercial building, and none is for rent. We say this plainly because a page that pretends to hold stock wastes your time. If a commercial listing is added, it will appear under browse commercial listings.

If you want one now, send us the district or estate, a price ceiling and the kind of tenant you want. Ask our team on WhatsApp or by email. We will say what we can verify. For a smaller residential income asset, our page on rental block for sale Kampala covers blocks of flats and rooms.

Which kinds of commercial building can you buy in Kampala?

Knight Frank's H1 2026 review of the Kampala market describes the types that are changing hands or being leased, and each has a different risk.

• Neighbourhood shops and centres. Suburban centres led leasing in the half. Ground-floor units in these centres traded above 85% occupancy and upper floors around 80%, a sign that shoppers prefer to buy near home.
• Mall units. Space in established malls is scarce, because tenants stayed put and occupancy rose year on year in every month of the half in Knight Frank-managed malls. Buying a unit usually means a sectional title and a service charge.
• Stand-alone office buildings. Modern Grade A space is 87% occupied but older Grade AB space is 83% and under pressure. See office space Kampala.
• Condominium offices. Several sectional-ownership developments launched in the half, with the strongest interest from small firms and professionals wanting secure tenure.
• Houses converted to offices. Enquiries rose for standalone houses suitable for office use in Naguru, Bukoto and Ntinda, which offer lower costs and more parking than the city centre. A house like this still has to meet planning rules for change of use, so ask the planning authority before you pay.

Warehouses are a different asset: see Warehouses for Rent or Sale in Kampala.

What rent can a shop earn?

The only published, dated retail rents we could open are Knight Frank's prime ground-floor mall rents for H1 2026. They do not include service charges and do not adjust for how deep the shop is compared with its frontage, so they are a ceiling for good malls, not a quote for a roadside shop.

The shilling column is our arithmetic at UGX 3,710 to the dollar, the June 2026 average in the same review. It is for orientation only, since a lease is often priced in dollars or shillings by agreement. Land & Property listings, Nov 2026, hold no shop with a rent we can compare.

Footfall is the weak spot. In Knight Frank-managed malls, footfall was up 8% in February and March 2026 against the year before, then fell 2% in April, rose 1% in May and dropped 11% in June. Occupancy held. A shop's rent is only safe if the tenant's sales are safe, which brings us to the tenant.

How do I check a tenant before buying a commercial building?

A building with tenants is worth what those tenants will keep paying. Ask the seller for these papers and check each against the building:

1. The signed leases. Under the Landlord and Tenant Act, 2022, a tenancy worth 25 currency points (UGX 500,000) or more is enforceable by court action only if it is in writing, in a data message, or admitted by the other side (section 4). A verbal tenant is a risk.
2. A tenant schedule. Name, unit, area, rent, start and end dates, review dates and arrears, signed by the seller.
3. Rent receipts and bank records. The Act expects a landlord to issue written receipts and keep a record of them (section 25), and a landlord of business premises in a city or municipality must give a bank account for rent (section 21(4)). Rent that has been paid in cash with no record is hard to prove.
4. The deposit. When the status of landlord passes to another person, the security deposit must be transferred and the successor must notify the tenant (section 30(6)). Make the seller hand over the money, or reduce the price.
5. Who the tenant really is. A landlord should see registration details for a company tenant (section 3(5)). Search the company at the registry and ask for audited accounts or bank statements if the rent is large.
6. Unlawful sub-lets. A sub-let without the landlord's written consent is invalid and ends the tenancy (sections 32 and 33), so a unit may be held by a person who has no lease.

Then walk the building with the tenants present, not only with the seller. Read our full checklist at Commercial Building Due Diligence in Uganda.

Is VAT charged when you buy or rent a commercial building?

This is the question to settle in writing before you sign. The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) says on its landlord page that landlords who earn commercial rent above the registration threshold must register, charge tenants 18% VAT and remit it, and VAT-registered taxpayers must also register for EFRIS and issue e-invoices. A URA notice first published on 30 October 2026 says the annual registration threshold was raised from UGX 150 million to UGX 300 million with effect from 1 July 2026. Older pages, including the landlord page, still show UGX 150 million.

What we could not confirm is how VAT applies to the sale price of a particular building. That depends on whether the seller is VAT-registered and how the building has been used, so ask three questions in writing: Is the price shown inclusive or exclusive of VAT? Is the seller registered for VAT, and can you see the certificate? Will you, as the buyer, be able to claim any VAT back if you let the building to VAT-registered tenants? Take advice from a tax adviser or URA, as of November 2026, before you commit to a figure.

Rental tax is separate. URA's 2022 guidance says an individual pays 12% on gross rent above UGX 2,820,000 a year, and a company pays 30% after deducting up to 50% of the rent as expenses.

How do I value a commercial building and test its yield?

Use two tests and compare. The first is the income test. Take the rent you can prove, subtract what the owner pays (repairs, security, service charge, insurance, management and any empty months), and divide the result by the full price including legal costs. The second is the replacement test: what the land and the building would cost to buy and build today.

For an example, not a market quote: a shop block priced at UGX 1,500,000,000 with proven rent of UGX 120,000,000 a year is an 8% gross yield. If rent is lost for two months each year, rent received is UGX 100,000,000, or 6.7% before any other cost. At that point compare it with what a bank deposit or a treasury bond pays, because you are taking building risk for the difference. Knight Frank reported shilling lending rates of 18.63% in the first half of 2026, which is far above property yields, so most buyers of income property use their own money.

Use a licensed valuer. Knight Frank's H1 2026 review says the Valuation Act, 2026 came into force in March 2026, creating the Institute of Certified Valuers of Uganda, mandatory licensing and national valuation standards. Ask to see the valuer's licence number, and ask what comparable sales and rents were used. A bank's own valuation protects the bank, not you.

What else should I check before paying?

Do the land checks as for any plot: an official search of the title, who the registered proprietor is and any caveat or mortgage. Our guides on commercial land near Kampala for development and on title searches apply to commercial buildings too. Ask for the approved building plan and the completion or occupation papers from the local authority. Visit at the busy time of day. If you are abroad, pay only into an account in the seller's or company's verified name. Our site visit service sends a person to the building, and our agents are checked with a National ID and live selfie before they carry a Verified badge. See commercial property for the wider picture.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

• Commercial Property in Uganda: Shops, Offices, Warehouses
• Commercial Property in Uganda: An Investor's Guide
• Commercial Building Due Diligence in Uganda
• Warehouses for Rent or Sale in Kampala
• Commercial Lease Terms in Uganda
• Commercial Land Near Kampala for Development