UGANDA, Kampala | Real Muloodi News | As we discussed in Part 1 of this series, it is possible to build a home with a monthly salary below USh1 million.
After a year of saving for bricks and cement, you will also need four trips of lake sand that cost USh 220,000 each and two trips of plaster sand at a cost of USh 200,000 each.
With the above materials at the site, you have everything you need to build your home.
Break Down of the Cost Analysis:
Labour
For labour, it is advisable to hire an experienced engineer. An engineer may charge you one wholesome fee for building the house up to the point when it is ready for roofing.
The engineer’s fee may range from USh 3.2 m to USh 4.3 m, which you do not have to pay at once.
Building Materials
You will need about 12 iron bars which will cost USh 400,000. The sand, bars and labour charge will take you another year of savings. You may need about 25 bags of cement if you lay a slab and about 20 bags without a slab to take it up to the ring beam.
You will need around 3,000 bricks each @USh 300, and the whole total comes to USh 900,000. You will also need both fine and coarse sand, two trips each.
It can take 30 bags of cement at USh 28,000 each, dump proof membrane-one roll costs USh 90,000, gravel one trip costs USh 200,000.
If you need hardcore, one trip costs USh 280,000, hoop iron-one roll may cost Ush 95,000. In four years, you will now have a house built up to the ring beam.
For roofing, you will need about 25 ordinary iron sheets that cost USh 37,000. You will need around eight iron sheets – 3 meters.
The next item on the list will be nails and timber. You can get used timber that is just as good as new ones and at a lower price. This process will take you another six months. Roofing timber may cost USh 750,000; iron sheets cost USh 925,000 and roofing nails for USh 30,000.
For the next six months, you can save money for 20 bags of cement for the plastering and the floor. By the end of five years, you will have yourself a shell house.
Save for three months and buy three windows each at USh 280,000.
For the outside latrine and bathroom, excavation will cost around USh 180,000, and you need 1000 bricks, six bags of cement and three iron sheets.
At your construction site, you will need tools that the builders will use. A hoe may cost USh 14,000, a spade costs USh 22,000, a wheelbarrow costs USh 120,000, a pickaxe USh 18,000, mortar pans USh 0,000, and a panga costs USh 13,000.
15 Scaffolding poles, each costs USh 4,000, 5 Kgs nails 3-inch at USh 4,500 each, nails of 4-inch and 5-inch are at the same price.
One roll of builder’s string costs USh 35,000, and one item of anti-termite treatment costs USh 28,000. Water might cost around USh 150,000, and you may also need a store for the materials that may cost around USh 300,000.
A complete single self-contained room may cost you approximately USh 13.86 million of your savings up to the roofing stage and USh 2.8 million as miscellaneous.
Building a dream home, as discussed above, with a monthly salary below USh 1m, is achievable, with disciplined savings. In six years, after your hard work, you will be in your own home. Factor in another year for miscellaneous expenses, and seven years, you can enter your modest abode.
In Part 3 of this series, we cover other ways to help you achieve your dream of home ownership on a modest salary.
READ MORE LIKE THIS:
Cost Analysis: Building Your Dream House on a Small Income, Part 1
Cost Analysis: Building Your Dream House on a Small Income, Part 2