Evicted by inflation: The rising cost of renting in Egypt’s working-class districts
Ahmed Mostafa was shocked when his landlord asked to raise the rent from 3,500 to 5,000 pounds (around $70–100). That prompted him to leave Imbaba, where he had lived for years, and look for somewhere cheaper. Ahmed, who supports a wife and three children, recalls that the rent for his two-bedroom, one-living room apartment was no more than 450 pounds a month in 2007. The rent remained relatively stable until recent inflationary waves caused prices to skyrocket.
According to data collected by Al Manassa, a family now needs around 4,000 pounds a month—more than half of Egypt’s current minimum wage—just to rent a modest unit in a working-class neighborhood. These neighborhoods, once a haven for low-income households, now mirror upscale areas in being unaffordable due to soaring inflation rates.
From Jan. 2022 to Oct. 2024 average prices rose by more than 100%, driven by the war in Ukraine and Egypt’s chronic dollar shortage, which has led to repeated devaluations of the local currency.
The significant rise in rents has prompted calls for government intervention to regulate the market and protect tenants from landlords’ unchecked practices. Such regulation is especially urgent as over the next few years tens of thousands of citizens will be forced to vacate old-rent apartments, losing one of the last affordable housing options.
Crisis in ordinary neighborhoods?
In response to the threat of rent increase, Ahmed started looking for a cheaper place in one of Egypt’s newer cities. Friends recommended Hadayek October, but inflation followed him and his family there too.
“In 2022, an apartment in Hadayek October would cost 2,000 pounds a month, even if it was far from schools and basic services,” he told Al Manassa. “Just as we were getting used to it, the landlord decided not to renew the lease after getting better offers from Sudanese tenants.”
Ahmed had to move again, this time to Mounib, settling in a cramped, substandard apartment without natural gas connection, for 3,500 a month.
While some analysts have linked the surge in rents to the influx of refugees from Syria and Sudan, housing experts told Al Manassa this is not the sole reason.
Sami Merit, a store clerk supporting a family of five, now pays 3,500 pounds for an 80-square-meter, two-bedroom apartment in Old Marg. “We used to rent a 120-square-meter place in the same area for 500 pounds a month,” he said. “Now that same apartment costs 3,000 or 4,000 pounds.”
He dismissed the idea that higher rent signals better living standards. “The neighborhood hasn’t changed. Still the same neglected infrastructure and daily fights.”
For decades, Marg has served as a haven for low-income families, especially those migrating from Upper Egypt and the Nile Delta. But like other districts, its rents have soared lately. Merit attributes the spike to a three-year halt on building permits in older neighborhoods from 2021 to 2024.
The same trend is playing out in Sayeda Zeinab, where broker Mohamed Idris said residential rents have become unaffordable due to a commercial boom. “Back in the day, people of all income levels could live here. Now most apartments are storage spaces or shops. With rising demand, monthly rents have gone crazy and now average 4,000 to 5,000 pounds,” he told Al Manassa.
How rising rents are reshaping lives
To stay in their neighborhoods, some families are sacrificing basic needs. As Ahmed Mostafa put it, “We had to give up essentials like fruit and meat just to pay the rent.”
Fatma Abdel Aziz, who supports a family of five, makes similar trade-offs to keep her 80-square-meter apartment in Faisal. The rent has climbed to 4,000 pounds, but, she says, “the place is very small, there’s no space for my kids to play. Water and electricity are frequently cut. I even have to pay extra for transportation to get them to a youth center. Still, I couldn’t find a cheaper alternative.”
According to real estate agents in several ordinary neighborhoods, rent for a 90-square-meter unit starts at 4,000 pounds, while 50-square-meter units start at 2,000 pounds.
| District | Area (m2) | Rent from (EGP) | Rent to (EGP) |
| Faysal | 60 - 90 | 3,000 | 5,000 |
| Haram | 70 - 120 | 3,000 | 7,000 |
| Imbaba | 50 - 115 | 2,000 | 6,000 |
| 10th of Ramadan | 90 - 120 | 5,000 | 8,000 |
| Al-Khankah | 50 - 100 | 3,000 | 6,000 |
| Sayeda Zeinab | 70 - 120 | 4,000 | 7,000 |
| Abdeen | 70 - 120 | 4,000 | 7,000 |
| Masr Qadima | 70 - 120 | 4,000 | 7,000 |
Rising rents are also delaying marriages. Mahmoud, a government employee in his mid-20s, has postponed his wedding because he can’t keep up with rising rents. “I make 8,000 pounds a month, but only half of that is guaranteed. My fiancée earns 5,000. We have loan payments and join saving clubs. All we need is a small apartment for 3,000 pounds, but places at that price are only in areas with poor transport links and services.”
Magdy El-Assiuti, a broker in Sayeda Zeinab and Masr Qadima, said that affordable units for young couples—around 2,000 pounds per month for example—tend to be small and only suitable for laborers migrating to the capital, not families looking to build stable lives.
El-Assiuti noted that even if newlyweds find such a place, “landlords rarely offer leases longer than a year, making it hard to plan for the future.”
Reform is needed
Urban development expert Walid Morsi called for government oversight of new rental prices to rebalance the tenant-landlord relationship. He also urged tax incentives to encourage landlords to keep prices down.
Until 1996, rental prices in Egypt were controlled by law. That year, the state passed Law No. 4, which exempted new units without current leases from the old regulations, subjecting them instead to civil law provisions, that is to supply and demand.
Lawyer Mostafa Gamal Eddin said the new rental law eliminated the social dimension of the tenant-landlord relationship, leaving the tenant at the mercy of the market. “In reality, tenants don’t have bargaining power. They need housing, so they accept short-term leases and constant rent hikes.”
Gamal Eddin supports state intervention, calling for assessment committees to set rents in each district based on construction and permit costs, infrastructure, and local services. “This would help restore balance and stability to the housing market,” he told Al Manassa.
Still searching for an affordable place, Ahmed Mostafa is undeterred. Fatma dreams of a bigger apartment for her kids. Mahmoud just wants to get married. All wait to discover whether the government will step in to fix the rental market, or abandon it to market forces.
(*) A version of this article first appeared in Arabic on Sept. 7, 2025