(Photo courtesy of the campaign facebook page)
A new campaign entitled “We need a 35 sqm apartment” has been launched by some Egyptian youth to market for the idea and demand that the government build such residential units.
Egyptian youth have to accept and live in apartments on an area of 35 sqm. Living in a room or studio apartment is better than four families live in one apartment, Housing and Development Bank CEO, Fathi Sebaey Mansour said.
Mansour’s statements provoked controversy among youth; however, the campaign is gaining traction.
Studio apartments is not a strange concept in our society as a lot of youth from villages in Upper Egypt, who work in Cairo and other areas far away from their hometowns live in studio apartment, according to Norman Emad, the coordinator of the campaign.
Emad demanded that the government provide these housing units in new cities and Cairo through public announcement, and ease the application procedures for buying these units through the national ID card, without brokers or complex procedures.
Emad called the government to establish a special council to oversee the project until delivery, in addition to forming a monitoring committee to prevent any manipulation of the allocated units through the contractors. He further called for facilitating the payment to the bank so that the benefit does not exceed 10%, with a repayment period of five years.
Emad added that the provision of these units will attract the youth to buy these units, rather than bear the burden of the premiums for expensive apartments or the high rent for apartments that are not theirs.
He noted that these kinds of apartments are found all over Europe and are very practical for youth , as there are some units with an area of 56 sqm that include the stairs and skylights, but the apartment space is not more than 35 sqm.
“If we make use of this space, the apartment will be very suitable and adequate for living,” added Emad. “We will submit a proposal to the cabinet in this regard after a community discussion with interested youth.”
The government has to provide such units for youth as a priority, rather than giving land to investors and selling youth apartments with millions of pounds, he said.
Mansour further noted that the bank welcomes the idea of the campaign, and said, if the government decides to build such apartments, the bank will support the building process through loans or supervising the building and delivering the units to the youth at reasonable prices.
