If you own rental property in Uganda, or you're renting one, there's a law you need to understand: The Landlord and Tenant Act, 2022.

It came into force in June 2022 after President Museveni assented to it on 12 April 2022. It replaced the old Rent Restrictions Act (Cap 231), which had been in place for decades. The new Act sets out clear rules for how rent is charged, how evictions work, what landlords can and cannot do, and what tenants are responsible for.

For practical purposes it is Uganda's rental law. The everyday flashpoints between landlords and tenants are all things the Act now speaks to directly: a deposit withheld, a rent hike sprung on someone mid-tenancy, a padlock on a door.

This guide is the Landlord and Tenant Act 2022 explained in plain language, with no legal jargon.

Who Does the Act Apply To?

The Act applies to residential and business premises let out for rent across Uganda.

It does not apply to:

Residences in institutions like hospitals, schools, or detention facilities where housing is part of the service
Hotels, motels, and other short-term lodging
Premises occupied under an employment contract (e.g. company housing tied to a job)

Tenancy Agreements: What the Law Says

One of the most practical things the Act clarifies is how tenancy agreements can be made.

A tenancy agreement can be:

Written (a formal lease document)
Oral (a verbal agreement)
A data message (email or WhatsApp, for example)
Implied from the conduct of the parties

Section 4 is the one that catches people out. It provides that a tenancy agreement of the value of twenty five currency points or more is not enforceable by action unless it is in writing or in the form of a data message, or unless the party being sued admits the agreement was entered into. A currency point is UGX 20,000 under Schedule 1, so that threshold is UGX 500,000. An oral agreement at that level is very difficult to act on legally.

Separately, section 3(5) bars a landlord from entering into a tenancy agreement with an individual at all unless that individual produces a national identification card, an alien's identification card, or another identification document, which the Act defines as including a driving permit, passport or certified student ID. Taking a copy of the ID is not optional politeness; it is a statutory precondition.

The landlord is also required to give the tenant a copy of the signed agreement, and where no written agreement exists, the landlord must keep a record of the tenant's full details, the location of the premises, the rent amount, and how it is paid.

If you need to put one on paper, our guide on how to write a tenancy agreement in Uganda includes a free template built around these requirements.

Rent: Rules Every Landlord and Tenant Must Know

Currency

Unless both parties agree otherwise, all rent must be paid in Uganda Shillings. Parliament specifically included this provision to protect the Uganda Shilling from continued depreciation against the dollar.

Advance Rent

A landlord cannot demand more than 3 months' rent in advance, unless the tenant voluntarily agrees in writing to pay more. This protects tenants from being asked for large lump sums upfront.

Rent Increases

A landlord cannot increase rent by more than 10% per year without mutual agreement.
Before increasing rent, the landlord must give the tenant at least 60 days' written notice.
Rent cannot be increased more than once every 12 months.
If the tenancy is for a fixed term, the landlord cannot increase rent before that term ends, unless both parties agree.

Receipts

Section 25 requires a landlord who receives rent to give the payer a written receipt: immediately where the payment is made in person, or within five working days where it is not made in person and a receipt was requested at the time. The receipt must state the amount and the period the rent covers, and the landlord must keep a record of every receipt issued. Section 30(5) imposes the same written-receipt duty for the security deposit.

Security Deposits

The Act formally recognises security deposits, which had previously operated in a legal grey area.

Key rules:

A landlord can charge a security deposit
It cannot exceed one month's rent (or one-twelfth of the annual rent, whichever is less)
The landlord must inform the tenant in writing of the conditions under which the deposit may be withheld
The deposit cannot be withheld for normal wear and tear from ordinary use of the property
If the property is sold, the security deposit transfers to the new landlord

Working out which of your own proposed deductions are damage and which are wear and tear, and checking the deposit itself against the one-month cap, is exactly what our deposit deduction worksheet does.

Maintenance and Repairs: Who Is Responsible?

Landlord's responsibilities

The landlord is required to keep the premises in good repair, taking into account the age, character, and expected life of the building. The premises must also be fit for human habitation at the start of a residential tenancy and throughout.

The landlord is also responsible for paying all taxes and rates imposed on the property by law. If a tenant ends up paying those taxes, the landlord must reimburse them.

Tenant's responsibilities

Tenants must keep the premises clean, not damage common areas, and not make structural alterations without the landlord's written consent.

Section 9 gives a tenant two routes to repairing the premises themselves. Where the repair is urgent, meaning a burst pipe, an electrical fault or a serious roof leak, the tenant may carry it out. Where it is not urgent, the tenant may carry it out only after taking reasonable steps to get the landlord to act and serving the landlord with 14 days' notice of the need for and cost of the repair.

Either way the tenant must give the landlord written notice of the repairs, the costs, and supporting documentation immediately afterwards, and the costs must be reasonable at prevailing market rates. The landlord then has 14 days from that notice to reimburse. If they fail to, the tenant recovers the cost from the rent next due.

Evictions: The Legal Process

This is probably the section most landlords want to understand.

The Act abolished distress for rent, so landlords can no longer seize a tenant's belongings to recover unpaid rent. Instead, the process is:

If a tenant defaults on rent, the landlord can apply to a court to recover the amount owed (Section 29(1))
If the default continues for more than 30 days, the landlord can re-enter the premises and take possession (Section 29(2))
Eviction must happen in the presence of the area Local Council official and the Police. You cannot evict alone
Even after eviction, the landlord can still pursue the unpaid rent (Section 29(3))

If you need to know exactly how many months and days a tenant is behind, and whether the default has crossed the 30-day mark, work it out with our rent arrears calculator.

Section 45 prohibits a landlord from evicting a tenant, or compelling a tenant to vacate, other than in accordance with the Act or the tenancy agreement. Where a landlord does so, the tenant is entitled to pursue relief in court or an amount equivalent to three months' rent, and the court must additionally order the landlord to compensate the tenant for any damages arising from the unlawful eviction.

A separate offence sits in section 48: a landlord who enters the premises without giving at least twenty hours' written notice is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred currency points. A currency point is UGX 20,000 under Schedule 1, so that ceiling is UGX 2,000,000.

Notice Periods for Ending a Tenancy

The Act sets out clear notice periods depending on the type of tenancy:

Weekly tenancy: 7 days' notice.
Monthly tenancy: 30 days' notice.
Year-on-year tenancy: 60 days' notice.

Those are the statutory minimums for a residential tenancy under section 38. A landlord and tenant may agree in writing to a longer notice period, but not a shorter one.

A landlord cannot enter the premises without giving the tenant at least 20 hours' notice beforehand. Showing up unannounced is a breach of the tenant's right to quiet enjoyment.

Anti-Discrimination Protections

Section 20 is explicit: a landlord shall not refuse to rent premises to a person on the grounds of:

Sex
Race
Colour
Ethnic origin
Tribe
Birth
Creed or religion
Social or economic standing
Political opinion
Disability

That is the complete statutory list, in the Act's own words. Tribe and ethnic origin are the two most openly breached in Ugandan practice. They appear routinely in rental advertisements.

Subletting

A tenant can sublet the property to another person, but only with the written consent of the landlord. The landlord is not allowed to unreasonably withhold that consent. Any subletting done without consent automatically invalidates the tenancy.

What the Act Means in Practice: Landlord Duties and Tenant Rights

To summarise what changes for both sides:

For landlords:

You must put agreements valued at UGX 500,000 or more in writing or a data message
You cannot ask for more than 3 months upfront
Rent increases are capped at 10% annually with 60 days' notice
Evictions require the Local Council and police to be present
Unlawful eviction is a criminal offence

Tenant rights under the Act:

You have the right to quiet enjoyment of the property
You are protected from arbitrary rent hikes
You can carry out urgent repairs and recover the cost
You have clear notice periods before being asked to leave
You can challenge an unlawful eviction in court

A Note on Gaps in the Act

Not everyone views the Act as perfectly balanced. CEPIL Uganda has noted that while the Act protects tenants in many ways, it "does not provide an equal measure of protection to landlords." Critics point out that oral agreements are still permitted below UGX 500,000, which leaves proof problems, and that there is no custodial sentence for tenants who violate the Act.

Read the Act alongside your own tenancy agreement. The two work together, and the agreement can set terms that go beyond the Act's minimums, as long as they don't contradict it.

Managing Your Properties by the Book

Understanding the law is one thing. Keeping track of rent payments, tenancy agreements, notice periods, and maintenance requests across multiple properties is another challenge entirely.

That's exactly what RentEase Uganda is built for. Ugandan landlords use it to store digital tenancy agreements, track rent in real time, manage maintenance requests, and stay on top of every notice deadline, all in one place.

Try RentEase Uganda free

This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For advice specific to your situation, consult a qualified advocate in Uganda.

Sources

Every section number, notice period and monetary figure in this guide was checked line by line against the gazetted text linked above.

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