The real estate sector needs urgent controls to curb the spread of the phenomenon of uninhabited and unused real estate units, which represents wasted wealth and which does not tie in well with the current economic challenges that the country suffers from at the current stage, according to Daker Abdellah, member of the board of directors of the Egyptian Federation for Construction and Building Contractors (EFCBC).
Abdellah added that there are at least 10 million unused and uninhabited real estate units, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) estimates, which means there is about EGP 3tr outside the country’s economy, for which no real estate taxes or fees are collected, which is illogical under current challenges.
Abdellah pointed out that the government has to discuss mechanisms of obligating owners of these units to use them either by housing or by renting them to ensure the preservation of the rights of the state and contribute to solving the housing crisis relatively, which is worsening with the recent rise in unit prices and the inability of a large segment of citizens to buy units under the ownership system.
He added that imposing real estate taxes on uninhabited units through the introduction of some amendments in the current law will pay owners of units to look at the exploitation of these units.
He noted that the state has recently launched a large number of lands, which is expected to be developed by the private sector through building more units. Part of this will be directed to meet the urgent need of citizens, while the other part is purchased for investment, which is expected to add new units to those uninhabited units.
Abdellah explained that the spread of uninhabited units leads to a weakening of the plan to achieve development in urban communities and cities.
