Minister of Housing Mostafa Madbouly said the government is now prioritising the development of areas of informal housing in accordance with a specified timeline.
The government is making a continuous effort to draw up clear strategies to eliminate areas of informal housing and improve the lives of their inhabitants. “We developed a database of unstable areas and formulated strategic tactics either by improving these areas or by transferring their inhabitants to substitute residential areas,” he said. “Protocols to develop three areas of informal housing situated in the ‘life threatening’ districts of Tal Al-Aqareb, Al-Asmarat, and Al-Herafiyen have recently been signed with the Governor of Cairo.”
The government is supporting the launch of various new mega-projects including the first phase of the New Administrative Capital, which will be largely implemented by the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCES), owing to a strategic alliance between the two countries, Madbouly said.
The Ministry of Housing auctioned off 1,500 acres of land in 20 new cities, which will be allocated to developers under what is being described as a “new one-stop shop” certification system to make more of Egypt’s land available for investment. This stream lining of processes is expected to be influential and powerful in accelerating the market during the coming phase.
Managing Director of Solariz Egypt Yaseen Abdel Ghaffar said developers have communicated the various gains to be made from employing new building methods and energy-efficient technologies in the early stages of project development.
Abdel Ghaffar said developers are able to integrate solar energy within the real estate product offering; solar systems will spread in Egypt and consumers will no longer be burdened by skyrocketing bills. Developers are beginning to understand that energy-efficiency and sustainability are essential.
