Six Egyptian governorates on Wednesday completed area classifications under Egypt’s new law regulating old-rent contracts, bringing in steep rent increases. Kafr El-Sheikh governorate has no designated prime zones, while the city of Edfu in Aswan governorate has 53.
According to decisions published in Al-Waqa’i‘ Al-Masriya, the supplement to the Official Gazette, Ismailia, Kafr El-Sheikh, Aswan, Qena, Sharqiya and Sohag have now divided districts and neighborhoods into prime, average, and economic areas based on committee recommendations. The new rent values will apply retroactively for the past three months, adding extra financial pressure on tenants.
Under the law, the rent for residential units in prime locations will increase twentyfold, with a minimum of 1,000 Egyptian pounds per month (about $20). Rents in average and economic areas rise tenfold, with minimums of 450 and 250 pounds respectively.
In Ismailia, Governor Akram Galal’s decision classified 11 areas as prime. These are spread across Fayid, Abu Sawir and Qassasin, mainly covering key commercial streets, service areas, and central markets.
Outside those locations, all other cities and districts in the governorate were divided between average and economic areas, including the city of Ismailia itself, none of whose three districts was designated as prime.
In Qena governorate, the prime category was confined to 25 streets in the city of Nag Hammadi. The decision also classified two areas in Qena city as prime. Beyond these, the governorate includes 45 average areas and 51 economic areas distributed among its towns and villages.
In Kafr El-Sheikh, Governor Alaa Abdel-Moati did not classify any areas as prime. All districts and cities in the governorate were designated either average or economic, including the east and west districts of Kafr El-Sheikh city, the main administrative center.
In Aswan governorate, 29 streets within Aswan city itself were listed as prime areas. They cluster in and around major residential and commercial arteries, including streets such as Abbas Farid and Ahmed Maher and nearby housing zones.
In the other centers and towns of Aswan governorate, the town of Nasr Al-Nuba was classified as a prime area. Villages close by were classified as average, while villages farther from the center were listed as economic areas.
In Kom Ombo center, four areas were designated prime, while in contrast, in Edfu center, 53 prime areas were listed, covering most of Edfu city’s main streets and residential neighborhoods.
In Sharqiya governorate, only three areas in Zagazig were classified as prime. All remaining areas in the governorate’s towns and rural districts were classified as average or economic.
Sohag governorate saw just two areas designated as prime in the entire governorate under the governor’s decision: Gomhouria Street and the Western Nile Corniche.
Under Article 4 of the law, every tenant—or anyone whose lease has been extended—must pay, starting from the day after the governors’ decisions are published, the difference between the interim monthly rental value of 250 pounds set by the law until the committees completed their work and the new rental value under the decisions. The difference is paid in monthly installments over the same period during which it accrued.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly extended for an additional three months starting Nov. 5, the work of the committees charged with surveying areas that include residential rental units, as part of implementing Law No. 164 of 2025 on the old-rent system.
Under the law, these committees classify areas containing residential rental units as prime, average, or economic, based on criteria such as geographic location, building standards and the level of utilities connected to the properties.
While work continues in other governorates, the survey committees have already completed their work in Minya, Dakahliya, and Giza, where decisions classifying districts under the new law have been issued in recent days.
The law sets a seven-year transitional period after which rental relationships in units leased to natural persons for residential purposes end, and a five-year period for units leased for nonresidential purposes. At the end of those periods, tenants are required to vacate and return the premises to the owner. The government is obliged to provide alternative housing for the original tenant and their spouse at least one year before the end of the transitional period specified in the law.
