Real Estate Wealth Laws in Egypt
Dr. Bahaa Helmy Writes:
The state succeeded in containing the crisis that arose over the recent amendments to the Real Estate Registration Law after the issuance of a presidential decision “to suspend the application of the new law temporarily, with the Egyptian parliament discussing the defects of this law in a way that suits the interest and circumstances of the Egyptian citizen and does not conflict with the right of the state, in order to push forward the wheel of development and improve the living conditions of citizens, without prejudice to the immunity of parliament”.
Which means that the means of proof currently in force will continue to be used for contracting to install or transfer the meters of the various utilities, such as gas, electricity, water and telephones..
On this occasion, we believe the golden opportunity should not be missed to reform the system of legislation related to real estate wealth in Egypt, to keep pace with the modern era in individuals’ dealings with one another in society and with the huge technological progress.
Reforming the system of real estate legislation achieves the following objectives:
(creating a real estate database and linking it to the national ID number; bringing the real estate market into the formal economy of the state; protecting the rights of citizens contracting with real estate companies or wishing to contract for the sale and purchase of real estate units; removing the complexities of real estate registration and eliminating bureaucracy when registering property; restructuring the tax on real estate dispositions and the fees prescribed for each, including the fees of the Bar Association, the Survey Authority and others, in proportion to the area, value and location of the units, and in a way that guarantees the state obtains its rights in order to implement the economic development plans).
We envisage that the action plan for reforming and modernizing the laws related to real estate in Egypt would rest on several pillars, namely:
First: referral to the Shura Council to study that legislation, the taxes and fees prescribed in it and the procedures for registering and recording real estate units, to include the laws on: building, reconciliation, real estate registration, income tax “the tax on real estate dispositions”, rents, the annual real estate tax, new urban communities, stamp duties, mortgage finance and other legislation related to real estate in Egypt) with the aim of bringing them together in a single crucible (a single piece of legislation) under the name (the Real Estate Wealth Law), while removing the complexities of the registration procedures at the Real Estate Registry and setting a time limit of no more than 30 days to perform the service and respond to the right holder regarding his application.
Second: establishing new branches and offices of the Real Estate Registry that work electronically through (linking with databases according to specific powers for the users assigned to do this work, while securing that data) in the various governorates, responsible for registering property, within a year from now, with the appointment of the necessary number of employees and their training for the work and for the professional ethical conduct that must be followed to ensure good treatment of the public and belief in the culture of helping others, while taking into account increasing the size of the halls receiving citizens and providing health and environmental conditions, ventilation, organization, signage and camera surveillance, with fees to be paid by electronic payment.
Third: studying the capabilities, needs and procedures of the Survey Authority, which is entrusted with making maps and measuring properties and their units, and the appropriateness of the fees it collects for the service it provides and the time it takes to perform the work, so as to ensure governing and appropriate controls for speeding up the work and shortening the total time for registering property at the Real Estate Registry.
Final[ly], everyone is confident and certain of the ability and will of the Egyptians, who are achieving the greatest accomplishments on the ground, which appear to us through the giant national projects announced periodically in their final form, under the personal and close follow-up of the political leadership in a race against time. And since it is well known that legislative reform requires great effort, a long time and legal expertise, and we know that many committees have been formed over decades, some of which have not yet finished their work, we nevertheless hope that this work will be accomplished, out of faith in the abilities of the Egyptians and as a continuation of the state’s path of reform and development to improve the standard of living and increase the rates of development