When the countrywide Covid-19 pandemic inspired lockdown was eased, many tenants couldn’t afford to pay rent. This meant that they had to vacate the premises. Even those who had desired to start-up businesses that required property space, they quit because the pandemic had depleted their finances.
Some landlords in an attempt to retain their tenants forgave their rental arrears or offered them discounts. Also, landlords are offering huge discounts to attract new tenants but it is not proving to be easy. Business is slow for real estate dealers as a result of the pandemic that has affected all aspects of the economy.
However, stakeholders in the real estate industry are not throwing in the towel; they are devising ways they can survive. To facilitate this attempt to salvage the real estate sector, Victoria University has organized a webinar where a government minister and real estate expert will meet to discuss how they profitably invest in the sector.
The webinar to be held this week on Thursday 1st October will be led by chief panellist the state minister for housing Dr Chris Baryomunsi. Others are businessman Patrick Bitature, Judy Rugasira Kyanda, the MD of Knight Frank Uganda and Prabhat Mishra, the GM of Crane Management Services.
The webinar to be moderated by Marie Keishamaza, a former student of the Victoria University will be broadcast live on the university’ Facebook and YouTube online platforms starting 10am until 1pm. It will be held under the theme ‘investing in real estate in the post COVID era’.
Like elsewhere in the world, the real estate business is struggling and stakeholder are devising best ways to survive and in Uganda, this webinar will give a glimpse of the extent to which they have been affected and how they will overcome this pandemic.