Amendments to two draft laws regulating old rents were the subject of heated debate by parliament’s Housing Committee this week. The first nine-article draft proposes general amendments to rent laws49/1977 and 136/1981.The second extends civil law provisions to properties where lease contracts have expired and tenants no longer have a legal right to remain.
In a plenary session on 29 April, Parliament Speaker Hanafi Gebali tasked the Housing Committee to hold hearing sessions on the two draft laws in the presence of relevant cabinet ministers, legal experts, professors of civil law, representatives of landlords and tenants and government bodies, particularly the National Council for Human Rights and the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics.
“I assure everyone in Egypt that the draft laws will not pass unless they ensure fairness, guarantee the rights of both parties — landlords and tenants — and achieve justice between them,”Gebali told MPs.
In a press conference on 29 April, Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli said the decision to amend old rent laws had come in response to a November 2024 Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) ruling that found the 1981 landlord-tenant relationship law — known as the old rent law — unconstitutional.
“The government opted to amend the old rent laws in coordination with all relevant ministries and then referred them to the House of Representatives for detailed discussion,” said Madbouli. He added that draft amendments to both bills included a transitionperiod of at least five years to avoid social shocks.
The prime minister said the government is aware that many tenants will be unable to pay free market rents and the law will take this into account, with ministers open to any changes MPs or other groups suggest“as long as they take into account the interests of both parties”.
According to Article 2 of the proposed draft, once the law comes into force the monthly rent of residential properties will increase to 20 times their current rental value, provided that is not less than LE1,000 for units located in cities and LE500 for units in villages.
Article 4 stipulates that the rent value will increase annually by 15 per cent, while Article 5 stipulates that rental contracts subject to the provisions of this law will be terminated at the end of a period of five years.
Article 6 states that tenants will be obliged to vacate the rented property and return it to the owner at the end of the five-year transitional period stipulated in Article 5. In the event of the tenant refusing to vacate, the owner may request the courts to issue an order to evict him/her.
Article 7states that tenants whose rental contracts expire as per the law will be given priority in obtaining residential and non-residential units, whether to rent or own, from the state in accordance with rules, conditions, and procedures specified by the prime minister.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mahmoud Fawzi said that,regarding the relationship between landlords and tenants, “neither the government nor parliament will side with one party over the other.”
He noted that in the past, when socialist policies were dominant in Egypt, the government had intervened to freeze rents and prevent owners from evicting tenants,“leaving two problems, the extension of lease contracts and the permanence of fixed rents”.
Of39 SCC rulings on old rent contracts, Fawzi said 26 had deemed old rent laws unconstitutional and “in its last ruling in November, the SCC asked parliament to liberalise rent contracts while observing the interests of tenants.”
Seven per cent of the total number of buildings in Egypt areregulated by old rent contracts compared to 15 per cent in the 2006 census, according to Abdel-Hamid Sharafeddin, advisor to the head of the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics. Sharafeddin explained that the number of units subject to old rents amounts to approximately three million, including 1.8 million residential units.
When head of the Housing Committee Mohamed Attiya Al-Fayoumi opened the discussion, MPs appeared divided over the two governmentdrafts. He stressed that the two bills will top the committee’s agenda in the coming few weeks.
“I have instructions from the speaker that the committee listen to all viewpoints and that MPs commit to passing a new rent law before the end of the current legislative term,” said Al-Fayoumi. He described the government’s two bills as “objective”,pointing out that they allowed for a gradual increase in rents so as not to shock tenants.
MP Mohamed Al-Toukhi described the government’s bills as balanced. “In drafting these bills, the government is saying to the property owner: you are owed a lot, but please bear with us for five more years until the tenant becomes financially able to pay the rent increases.”
He dismissed claims by some MPs that the two bills will lead to massive social unrest.
“We have liberalised the relationship between landlords and tenants in agricultural land, and the country did not burn down,” said Al-Toukhi.
Head of parliament’s Local Administration Committee Ahmed Al-Sigini was the first MP to criticise the two bills. He said the proposed amendments are a far cry from the discussions that took place in the 4+4 Committee (four MPs plus four government officials) that convened at the Justice Ministry in 2024 to amend the old rent laws.
He said articles 5 and 7 of the law under discussion were the most important. He wondered aloud “if any study associated with this legislation includes the social impact of Article 5, which stipulates the eviction of a tenant after five years,”and also questioned the economic and demographic impact of Article 7 which states that the government will give flats to tenants evicted from residential units.
“Even if there are promises from the government to provide alternative housing, how can we tell a tenant residing in upscale districts like Mohandessin or Zamalek to move out and live in a poor district like Asmarat after five years,”asked Al-Sigini.
Independent MP Mustafa Bakri also attacked the two bills, arguing that they violate the principle of equality.
“No distinction was made between those living in a middle-class district like Shubra and a high-class district like Heliopolis,” said Bakri, who also criticisedArticle 6 which will force tenants to leave rented units or be evicted.
“This measure will be tantamount to inciting strife in the country,”warned Bakri, who urged MPs not to approve the two bills unless they are amended.
Moushira Khattab, president of the National Council for Human Rights, announced her rejection of the bill, questioning “whether the government will be able to provide alternative housing units to 1.6 million families who live in residential units subject to old rent.”
Housing Minister Sherif Al-Sherbini said the government is ready to amend the bills in response to MPs’ demands.
“We can change the five-year period after which the landlord-tenant relationship will be liberalised,” said Al-Sherbini, pledging that the government will provide alternative housing for any family subject to the old rent, and that no tenant will be made homeless.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 8 May, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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