Egyptian authorities will soon allocate residential land at no charge to low-income families throughout the country, according to Al-Gomhuria daily. These real-estate subsidies are provided under the new Mortgage Leasing Law, recently approved by Prime Minister Atif Ubaid, stated Muhammad Suliman, Egypt’s minister of development, housing and new urban communities.
Suliman added that studies are currently underway regarding the cost of equipping these proposed residential areas with appropriate services and facilities. The government has announced it is prepared finance up to 50 percent of the costs of these services. To further aid the new residents, the government will also impose only symbolic fees on raw materials for construction and land registration transactions.
In addition, 300,000 new apartments will be built on the property by the government and long-term housing loans will be provided, with installment charges set according to the applicant’s income basis.
Future requests for housing loans throughout Egypt are estimated to reach nine billion Egyptian pounds ($2.3 million), in the first year following the enactment of the new Mortgage Leasing Law. It is estimated that in the Cairo area alone, there are already some one million new unsold housing units available, awaiting a mechanism for buyers to finance their purchases. The law is therefore expected to revive the real estate market from a three-year slump. — (MENA Report)
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