Since Egypt’s independence in 1952, one of the most pressing urban problems has been a chronic housing shortage. The housing crisis is a result of population pressure, poverty, and migration to urban settlements. At the same time, it is the result of rent control laws from Egypt’s socialist era. In an effort to control the exploding cost of rented flats and to win political support among the urban poor, President Abdul Nasser released a number of laws that prohibited rent increases for tenants. A tenant’s heir would take over the lease with the frozen rent price. For decades, rents for apartments in prime residential areas of Central Cairo have been frozen at 10-15 EGP per month. High inflation rates made it uneconomical for house owners to rent their flats. Furthermore, the law made it almost impossible for a landlord to end a contract. What was meant to support Egypt’s urban poor, soon turned out to be the trigger of a serious housing crisis in the 1970s, as, instead of renting their flats out, house owners left them untenanted in order to keep them for their children’s generation. This situation continues for many rented apartments, as to this day legal changes only apply for released and newly rented-out property.

The rent control laws generated tremendous economic and social problems. Unplanned and unregulated settlements sprang up. It is estimated that between 1973 and 1983, a period of rapid inflation with the initiation of the open-door economic policy, 60–80% of all new housing constructions took place in the informal sector. In response to housing shortages, a non-official land market developed that still flourishes today. Private landholders or private companies and investors in possession of large agricultural fields sell these previously cultivated areas, subdivided into smaller plots (60-10m²). These plots are then sold to private owners/builders or middlemen. Construction work starts with the employment of local labour. In Cairo, buildings in informal areas are typically between two and six stories high and built with solid concrete frame structures and red brick infill.¹ The buildings are usually devised for future incremental construction; the owner/builder might decide to keep one of the housing units for himself and/or his family, while the remaining untis are sold or rented out.

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¹ Sims, D., 2003: The Case of Egypt, in UN HABITAT, 2003, Understanding Slums: Case Studies for the Global Report on Human Settlements. Abdelhalim, K., 2002: An Alternative Approach for Housing the Urban Poor in Egypt: Prospects and Constraints. PhD Thesis, University of Central England in Birmingham.