Egypt’s Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities, Assem El-Gazzar, has revealed facilitation measures granted to housing cooperatives and professional unions to accelerate the completion of projects within designated lands in new cities, excluding those allocated in the northwest coastal areas, Invest-Gate reports.

This decision follows the approval of the Board of Directors of the New Urban Communities Authority.

El-Gazzar emphasized that this initiative aims to empower these entities to execute their projects, serve their affiliates, and drive development rates within the new cities. The primary goal is to provide suitable and accessible housing along with necessary services.

Moreover, Amin Ghoneim, Vice President of the New Urban Communities Authority for Real Estate and Commercial Affairs, detailed the considerations behind these facilitations. They encompass strict criteria for residential or service buildings within these project lands.

Furthermore, Ghoneim elaborated that minimum ground floor construction and completion of executed external facades and enclosing walls (if present), among other criteria, prove the seriousness and completion of the projects. Progress is assessed based on these standards, with 80% completion considered project fulfilment contingent upon the completion of all facilities.

Additionally, these facilitations do not apply to lands designated for unions or associations in the northwest coastal areas, auctions, luxury housing associations, or within national housing projects or lands allocated for social housing units.

That said, non-compliant entities facing land revocation will have their lands reallocated by the authority to fulfil the intended development goals in the new cities.

Notably, the guidelines and facilitations are officially announced in newspapers, government entities’ headquarters, the authority’s website, and the city’s premises.