Egypt Daily News – A government source has confirmed that, if the President ratifies the recent amendments to the Old Rent Law passed by the House of Representatives, the responsibility of proving that a residential unit is vacant will fall on the landlord. This would allow property owners to reclaim their units immediately upon implementation of the law, rather than waiting for the transitional period of seven years for residential use or five years for non-residential use.
The source explained that the amendments include provisions for the immediate eviction of tenants from residential units proven to have been unoccupied for at least one year. Landlords will be able to substantiate such claims by requesting utility usage data such as electricity, gas, and water bills from relevant service providers for the past 12 months.
“For example,” the source noted, “if utility bills show consumption of only 10 or 20 Egyptian pounds per month, this would indicate the unit has not been used. However, bills amounting to 100 or 200 pounds would suggest the property remains in active use.”
In addition to utility records, landlords may also use testimonies from neighboring tenants within the same building to prove that a unit is closed. If sufficient evidence is presented, the landlord would be legally entitled to reclaim the property.
The source cited statistics from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), which indicate that around 400,000 residential units across Egypt out of a total of 3 million covered by the old rent system, are currently unoccupied. If a tenant refuses to vacate such a unit following the enforcement of the new law, the landlord can file a petition with an emergency judge, who would then issue an eviction order without granting the tenant the right to appeal.
However, the law also provides safeguards for tenants who are working abroad. If the tenant can present official travel documentation or a statement from the appropriate authorities confirming they were on an overseas assignment, the unit will not be classified as “closed,” and the eviction order will not apply. In such cases, the landlord must wait for the full seven-year transition period to expire.
Urban development expert Hussein Hassan criticized the one-year minimum as insufficient to prove that a unit is truly closed. He suggested extending the required vacancy period to three years to prevent potential injustice against tenants.
Hassan also urged the government to establish a separate database specifically for unoccupied units under the Old Rent Law, to distinguish them from regularly occupied properties. He warned that offering alternative subsidized housing to displaced tenants, an option discussed by the government in parliamentary sessions, could place significant strain on the state budget.
