What a Land Title Costs in Uganda in 2026: Search, Transfer and Registration Fees

Transferring a land title in Uganda costs UGX 10,000 in registration fees plus stamp duty of 1.5% of the land's value. A search before you pay anyone for that land costs the same UGX 10,000, whether you do it at a Zonal Office counter or online.

These are the government's own fees, checked in November 2026, and the Ministry wants to raise most of them within the next year. Below: what you pay today for a search, a transfer or a brand new title, what's about to change, and the mistakes that cost Ugandan buyers far more than any government fee ever will.

What a title search costs in Uganda

Before you hand over a single shilling for land, search the title. It tells you who legally owns the land right now, whether there's a mortgage, caveat or court order sitting on it, and whether the size and location on paper match what you're being shown.

A search costs UGX 10,000 per title, whichever way you do it:

• In person: visit the Zonal Office (Ministry Zonal Office, or "MZO") that covers the district where the land sits, and ask for a physical search. It's ready the same working day.
• Online: go to the Ministry of Lands' public portal at ugnlis.mlhud.go.ug, enter the title's volume and folio numbers (or the plot, block and county for a parcel search), and pay the UGX 10,000 fee through a URA payment reference number (PRN). Registered users can also track a pending transaction's progress on the same portal.
• A written search letter, which some banks and lawyers ask for instead of a printout, costs the same UGX 10,000 and takes about two working days, according to the Ministry's own fee schedule.

Kampala Capital City Authority confirms the same UGX 10,000 figure for searches on land within the city, and says you should hear back on the status of a request within three days.

What transferring a title costs

If you're buying land that already has a title in someone else's name, you're paying for a transfer, not a new title. This is the single most common land cost in Uganda, and it has two parts:

1. Stamp duty: 1.5% of the land's value. This isn't 1.5% of whatever price you agreed with the seller; it's 1.5% of the value the Chief Government Valuer assesses, which can be higher or lower than your purchase price. The buyer (or the lessee, in a lease) pays it, under URA's guidance on stamp duty.
2. Registration fee: UGX 10,000. Paid to the Ministry of Lands to formally record the change of ownership on the register.

Parliament looked at doubling that stamp duty rate to 3% through the Stamp Duty (Amendment) Bill, 2026, but dropped the proposal; the Act that eventually came into force on 1 July 2026 left the land transfer rate at 1.5% and focused instead on compliance rules, according to Dentons' tax guide to Uganda. Expect this to come up again; check URA before you budget on the old figure.

A straightforward transfer takes about five working days once your documents are lodged. You'll also need:

• A URA Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) for both buyer and seller if the land is worth UGX 10 million or more, and always if either party is a company. Our guide on getting a URA TIN number covers how to register for free.
• If you're buying through a company rather than in your own name, that company needs to exist first; see our breakdown of registering a business in Uganda with URSB.

Worked example: say you're buying a plot the Chief Government Valuer assesses at UGX 40 million. Stamp duty is UGX 600,000 (1.5%), plus the UGX 10,000 registration fee. That's UGX 610,000 in government fees alone, before any lawyer, agent or survey costs, and before you've spent a shilling on what you build there. Our breakdown of building a 3-bedroom house in Uganda covers what comes next.

What a brand new title costs

A new title is different from a transfer: it's what you need when land is being registered for the first time, converted from customary (kibanja) tenure to freehold, or split off from a bigger plot. The Ministry's fee schedule lists several charges that stack up depending on what you're doing:

Source: Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development MZO fee schedule, checked November 2026.

So splitting a single plot into three, for instance, isn't just the UGX 50,000 application fee: it's UGX 50,000 plus UGX 10,000 plus UGX 120,000 (UGX 40,000 per new title, three times), or around UGX 180,000 in Ministry charges before anyone draws a survey plan.

First registration and subdivisions take longer than a straight transfer, usually 10 to 20 working days once the Ministry has everything it needs.

Mortgages, caveats and other smaller fees

A few other land transactions have their own, smaller fees:

• Registering a mortgage: UGX 10,000 registration fee plus stamp duty of 0.05% of the mortgage sum. Takes three working days.
• Releasing a mortgage once it's paid off: UGX 10,000 registration plus UGX 5,000 stamp duty.
• Lodging a caveat (a legal flag that stops anyone dealing with the title while a dispute is sorted out): free, and processed the same day.
• Registering a caveat properly on the title: UGX 10,000 registration plus UGX 10,000 stamp duty.
• Removing a caveat someone else placed: UGX 10,000 registration plus UGX 5,000 stamp duty, with a 60-day statutory notice period first.

What a lawyer or surveyor adds

None of the fees above include professional help. If your transfer is simple, documents are clean and both parties are cooperative, you don't legally need a lawyer. Most buyers use one anyway, because the paperwork, the Chief Government Valuer's assessment and the search all have to line up.

Advocates' fees for conveyancing in Uganda are set on a sliding scale tied to the property's value, not a flat rate, under the Advocates (Remuneration and Taxation of Costs) Regulations. Ask any lawyer you're considering for a written quote before you start; a legitimate one will have no trouble giving you one. A boundary survey, if the plot's edges aren't clearly marked or agreed with neighbours, is a separate cost again: get it quoted by a registered surveyor for your specific plot rather than guessing from what someone else paid.

Fees that are about to change

In October 2026, the Ministry of Lands proposed raising most of its fees for the first time since 1998, according to the Daily Monitor. As of this writing, these are still proposals waiting on the Ministry of Finance, Cabinet and the Solicitor General to turn into a statutory instrument; none of them is law yet. But it's worth knowing what's coming:

Lands Minister Judith Nabakooba has called the increases manageable; Uganda Land Owners Association chairman James Galabuzi Mukasa has warned they'll push poorer families, especially those inheriting small plots, out of the formal system altogether. If you're planning a transfer or new title in the next few months, there's an argument for not dragging your feet.

Mistakes that cost more than any government fee

• Skipping the search to save UGX 10,000. This is the single most expensive mistake in Ugandan land buying. A title with a hidden mortgage, an existing caveat, or a sitting bibanja (customary tenant) holder under the Land Act can swallow your whole purchase price. UGX 10,000 and a same-day search protects all of it.
• Paying a "facilitator" in cash with no receipt. Every legitimate fee above is paid through a URA PRN or at the Ministry counter, and comes with a receipt you can match to the transaction on the public portal. Cash handed to someone who promises to "speed things up" off the books isn't a fee; it's a bribe, and it leaves you with no proof you paid anything.
• Assuming the seller's name on an old title is current. Titles get inherited, subdivided and mortgaged without buyers knowing. Your search tells you who can legally sell today, not who you were told owns it.
• Confusing mailo and kibanja interests. On mailo land, especially in and around Kampala, someone can hold a registered title while other people hold lawful customary (kibanja) occupancy rights on the same land. Buying the title doesn't automatically clear those occupants, and evicting them isn't straightforward. Ask directly whether there are bibanja holders before you pay anything.
• Guessing at stamp duty from the agreed price. Budget on the Chief Government Valuer's assessment, which you won't know for certain until it's done. Agreeing a price without a contingency for a higher valuation is how deals fall through at the last step.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to transfer a land title in Uganda?

A transfer costs UGX 10,000 in registration fees plus stamp duty of 1.5% of the land's assessed value, paid by the buyer. On a plot valued at UGX 40 million, that's UGX 610,000 in total government charges, not counting any lawyer or agent fees.

How much is a land title search in Uganda?

UGX 10,000 per search, whether you do it in person at a Ministry Zonal Office or online through the public portal. It's ready the same day in person, and instant online once your payment clears.

Who pays stamp duty, the buyer or the seller?

The buyer pays it, or the lessee if it's a lease, at 1.5% of the Chief Government Valuer's assessed value of the land.

Do I need a TIN to buy land in Uganda?

Yes, if the land is worth UGX 10 million or more, both you and the seller need a URA Taxpayer Identification Number. If either of you is buying or selling as a company, a TIN is compulsory regardless of the land's value.

Are land title fees about to go up in Uganda?

The Ministry of Lands proposed sharp increases in October 2026, including raising the registration fee from UGX 10,000 to UGX 50,000. These are proposals only; they still need Cabinet and the Solicitor General to turn them into law, and weren't yet in force as of November 2026.

How much does an acre of land cost in Uganda?

There's no single figure: a plot in central Kampala can cost many times the same acreage in a rural district, and prices move with location, access roads and demand. What's fixed, wherever the land is, is the cost of searching, transferring and registering the title itself, which is what this guide breaks down. If you're weighing land against other options, see our roundup of investment opportunities in Uganda for small and medium investors, and our wider Uganda money guides for everything else on tax, saving and business.