Rental Yields in Kampala by Property Type

What is the difference between gross and net rental yield?

Gross yield is the annual rent divided by the purchase price, shown as a percentage. Net yield takes the same rent, subtracts what it costs you to earn it, and divides by the full price you paid including fees.

Most published figures are gross, and they are the easier numbers to quote. Net is the figure that tells you what lands in your account. Costs that belong in a net calculation include:

• Rental income tax (see below).
• Months with no tenant.
• Repairs, service charge and insurance.
• Management fees if an agent collects the rent.
• Property rates, where the owner is liable. KCCA says owners of commercially used buildings, including residential rentals, are liable for rates.
• Buying costs, which raise the price you divide by: stamp duty, legal fees and valuation.

What yields do offices and warehouses earn in Kampala?

These are the best-sourced commercial figures, and both are gross and dated.

The office article adds that prime Grade A rents averaged about USD 16.50 per square metre a month and were flat, with occupancy near 85% for Grade A and 82.3% for Grade B, and that new supply was outpacing demand. A prime yield assumes a tenant and rent that may not hold.

What yields do homes and apartments earn?

Here the evidence is weak. The only attributed residential yields we opened are from a 2017 Cytonn report on Kampala, based on research done in June and July 2017. The report calls these rental yields and does not define how it calculated them. We show them so you can see the shape of the market, not as today's returns.

In the same report, within the high-end group, 2-bedroom apartments showed 10.0% while 3-bedroom villas showed 2.9%, so the type of unit moved the result more than the area. Rents and prices have changed since 2017. Apartment buyers in Bugolobi can read our page on Bugolobi Flats for Sale: Titles, Prices and Checks.

We do not quote yield ranges from property blogs because we could not trace their method.

How do I work out yield on a listing?

Use this method on any listing, and replace each input with figures you can check.

1. Price: use the price you expect to pay, not the asking price if you will negotiate, and add buying costs.
2. Rent: use rents actually agreed for similar units, not the landlord's hopes. Ask two or three agents and look at current rentals as a guide to asking rents.
3. Vacancy: allow some empty months each year.
4. Costs and tax: subtract them from the rent.
5. Divide: net annual income divided by total cost, times 100.

Illustration only, with made-up round numbers: a flat bought all-in for UGX 500 million that lets for UGX 3 million a month has annual rent of UGX 36 million, a gross yield of 7.2%. If it is empty for one month, rent falls to UGX 33 million. For an individual landlord, tax is 12% of rent above UGX 2,820,000, so UGX 33,000,000 less 2,820,000 is 30,180,000, and 12% of that is UGX 3,621,600. Service charge and repairs, say UGX 3 million, are extra. Net income is about UGX 26.4 million, a net yield near 5.3%. The inputs are invented to show the steps, and your own may differ widely. Our Rental Yield Calculator for Uganda lets you try your own.

How is rental income taxed?

As of November 2026, URA guidance and PwC Tax Summaries say individuals pay 12% of annual gross rent above UGX 2,820,000 and cannot deduct expenses. Companies, trustees and retirement funds may deduct up to 50% of gross rent for expenses and then pay 30% on the balance. A designated withholding agent must withhold 6% on rent payments over UGX 1 million, and that tax is credited against the final bill. VAT at 18% applies to landlords of commercial property above UGX 150 million turnover a year.

From 1 July 2026 individuals may also file monthly provisional rental returns, according to a Forvis Mazars summary of the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2026. See Property Tax Dates and VAT on Property in Uganda. Overseas landlords should also read US Tax on Uganda Property.

How does property yield compare with other uses of money?

Compare yield with what else your money could earn. At the Bank of Uganda auction in April 2026, UG Business reported the 10-year bond clearing at 15.5%. See land or treasury bonds for a side-by-side view, and Property Costs, Taxes and Mortgages in Uganda for financing. For a farming comparison, Robusta Coffee per Acre shows how to cost an income from land.

Short-stay rentals such as Airbnb-style lets have different income and cost patterns, and we found no sourced yield data for them, so this page does not give a figure. If you want to browse plot listings or discuss options, ask our team on WhatsApp or by email.

This is general information, not financial advice, and no yield is guaranteed.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

• Rental Yield Calculator for Uganda
• Is Uganda Property a Good Investment in 2026?
• Land vs Treasury Bonds vs Rental Property in Uganda
• Property Tax Dates: Rental Tax, Rates and Ground Rent
• Bugolobi Flats for Sale: Titles, Prices and Checks