Several political parties have announced their rejection of the government-drafted bill on the old rent law. The parliamentary majority party Mostaqbal Watan (the Nation’s Future) said in a statement that it opposes the draft bill, particularly the articles regulating rent increases and the duration of the lease contract, adding that the government’s bill could cause social unrest.
Other political parties, including the liberal-oriented Wafd and Free Egyptians, called for changes, particularly to Article 5 which includes a transitional period of five years after which rental contracts can be terminated and landlords will have the right to evict tenants. The two parties said they oppose forcing tenants to vacate rented properties after the five-year transitional period given the government has not guaranteed that evicted tenants will be provided with alternative housing units.
In a statement on Monday, the Wafd Party called for Article 5 to be abolished.
Wafd Party head Abdel-Sanad Yamama said the party believes that the amendments to the old rent law submitted by the government in response to a ruling issued by the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) last November should be reconsidered. “We appreciate the government’s initiative to amend the law and parliament’s keenness to pass a new law before the end of the current legislative season, but the draft submitted by the government cannot be accepted as it stands,” said Yamama.
He said that while the government bill opens the door to rent increases, which is in line with the SCC ruling, “the second part of the draft which allows for rental contracts to be terminated after a transition period of five years should be postponed to a future legislative season or completely abolished.”
Yamama stressed that neither terminating rental contracts nor setting a period for their termination were addressed by the SCC ruling and warned that approving any amendment allowing termination of rental contracts will be catastrophic for political parties that are preparing to contest parliamentary elections during the fourth quarter of this year. “These amendments, if passed, will cause social unrest, and MPs and political parties will be held responsible.”
Professor of constitutional law Abdallah Al-Moghazi confirmed that in its ruling last November the SCC did not demand a time period for terminating rental contracts, making “the inclusion of the five-year transition period in the government’s draft bill needless because it is not based on a legally binding text.”
While Al-Moghazi praised the government’s draft bill for adjusting rental values in compliance with the SCC ruling, he stressed that Article 2 needs to be redrafted to ensure that such adjustments take social and economic factors, including the nature and location of the property, into account.
The Egyptian Socialist Democratic Party’s parliamentary spokesman Ihab Mansour said the bill cannot be accepted in its current form because it forces tenants to vacate rented properties. “We also think that the monthly rent of residential properties should increase gradually so as not to shock tenants who are mostly low-income citizens or pensioners with no other sources of income.”
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 the current rental value, provided that is not less than LE1,000 for units in cities and LE500 for units in villages.
Mansour proposed that the government bill be modified to reduce the monthly rental value to not less than LE500 in cities and not less than LE250 in villages. “This amount can then be increased by 30 to 40 per cent each year to reflect market rates and allow landlords to obtain a satisfactory income from their units.” Another option, Mansour suggested, would be to divide tenants into groups based on specific criteria, such as the building’s age, district and condition, and the tenants’ social status, particularly for pensioners and other vulnerable groups. “We don’t want to be unjust to landlords, but we also do not want to see tenants placed under unbearable financial pressures,” said Mansour.
Head of the Union Party Reda Sakr said it has submitted an alternative rent law to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mahmoud Fawzi which “is more realistic and aims to strike a balance between landlords and tenants”.
The Union Party’s draft divides tenants into three categories, including those who cannot afford rent increases. This category will receive a 10-year protection from any rent increases. The second category of middle-income tenants will be obliged to pay a 15 per cent increase in rents annually over five years while the third category, encompassing high-income tenants who own more than one unit, could have their contracts terminated after three years.
The Union Party’s draft stipulates that a Real Estate Settlement and Compensation Fund be created under the supervision of the Finance Ministry and managed in partnership with the Housing Ministry and Social Solidarity Ministry. “This fund’s resources will come from the state budget, fees on rental contracts and donations, and the resources will be used to finance alternative housing for tenants who might be obliged to vacate leased residential units,” says the draft.
The draft also stipulates that a national electronic platform be established to collect and record data of owners and tenants over a period of six months to determine the category in which tenants fall.
Parliament’s legal consultant Michel Halim told Al-Ahram Weekly that most political parties polled by the Housing Committee favoured amending the government draft bill to abolish the article giving landlords the right to evict tenants after five years.
Halim called on the government and parliament to mandate relevant authorities to conduct a thorough survey of groups such as pensioners, divorcees, and families below the poverty line that benefit from old rents.
Halim said that he is in the process of submitting a comprehensive report to parliament which includes the legitimate rights and benefits of tenants in the residential and commercial sectors, based on clear legal and constitutional foundations, while respecting the SCC ruling.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 22 May, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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