President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has ratified a regulation amending Egypt’s decades-old lease system, marking a serious shift in landlord-tenant relations. The transfer follows the regulation’s approval by the Home of Representatives on 2 July and its publication within the Official Gazette on Monday, 4, August.
The brand new regulation introduces transitional intervals earlier than current contracts are terminated, seven years for residential models and 5 years for non-residential ones.
After this era, rental agreements will no longer be ruled by the previous lease regulation and can as a substitute fall below Egypt’s Civil Code, permitting landlords and tenants to set phrases freely.
Through the transitional section, rents will increase steadily by 15 % annually. Extra lease hikes will probably be utilized based mostly on location. In prime areas, lease will improve by 20 instances the present quantity, with a minimal of EGP 1,000 (USD 20) per thirty days.
In middle-income areas, lease will rise tenfold, with a minimum of EGP 400 (USD 8), whereas in financial areas, it should improve by not less than ten instances, with a minimal of EGP 250 (USD 5). Non-residential models rented by people will see lease multiplied by 5.
Eviction may even be permitted in sure circumstances through the transitional interval, including if tenants are supplied appropriate various housing by the federal government, if the unit has been left closed for over a yr with out justification, or if the tenant owns one other property that serves the identical function.
The amendments come months after a November 2024 ruling by Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Courtroom, which deemed mounted rents unconstitutional and referred to as for legislative reform to handle the long-standing imbalance between landlords and tenants.
According to the Central Company for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), round 409,000 households fall below the previous lease system, with Cairo accounting for the most important share, adopted by Alexandria, Giza, and Dakahlia. Many of those households are made up of aged residents residing on mounted incomes.
Officers say the regulation goals to resolve a decades-old disaster and restore property rights, however the laws has confronted criticism over considerations it may go away susceptible tenants, significantly the aged, with out safe housing as soon as the transitional interval ends.