Only about 38% of individuals subject to Egypt’s building reconciliation law have applied to regularize their status, an informed Housing Ministry official told Al Manassa, acknowledging that the legislation in its current form has failed to bring the vast majority of violators into the formal system.
On Thursday, PM Mostafa Madbouly directed officials to expedite draft amendments to the building violations reconciliation law to protect citizens’ interests and permanently resolve the issue.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the Ministry of Housing source said the law originally targeted the regularization of 5.2 million violations. However, only 2 million reconciliation applications have been submitted since the law took effect in 2019.
Furthermore, the source added that half of those who did apply failed to complete the process or submit the required documentation. This stagnation was attributed to prolonged, complex administrative procedures and the high cost of fees imposed on applicants.
According to the source, the upcoming legislative amendments are designed to resolve multiple hurdles faced by citizens, including financial relief on regularization rates for low-income families. Under the current law, regularization fees are calculated per square meter based on geographic location alone. This system charges a resident earning 5,000 Egyptian pounds per month under the same bracket as another earning double that amount, failing to account for lower-income brackets.
Meanwhile, Minister of Local Development and Environment Manal Awad told the House of Representatives’ Local Administration Committee on Tuesday that local authorities have processed 87% of submitted applications, representing 1.751 million out of 2.007 million total requests. Proposed amendments also include extending the law’s implementation for an additional year to grant citizens more time to comply.
The first iteration of the building violations reconciliation and regularization law was enacted in 2019, four years after drafting began on legislation that impacts a broad segment of property owners. The law was amended in 2020. However, persistent implementation obstacles and administrative confusion among local municipal units prompted lawmakers over the years to demand further revisions to bypass bureaucratic hurdles.
The source emphasized that while procedural bottlenecks and their potential remedies have been clear since last year, an ongoing crisis over “code” (temporary utility) meters and its connection to completing reconciliation procedures accelerated governmental efforts to finalize and announce the amendments.
Last month, the Ministry of Electricity began applying a new, flat-rate accounting system for code meters at 2.74 Egyptian pounds per kilowatt-hour (kWh), replacing the previous tiered bracket system. This represents an increase of up to 28% across approximately 3.6 million code meters, sparking parliamentary demands for a temporary suspension of the decision pending legal, social, and economic reviews.
According to the Unified Platform for Electricity Services, code meters are assigned to consumers obtaining electricity illegally to ensure accurate billing for actual consumption. These meters serve as a temporary measure until the status of the violating buildings is officially reconciled.
