Investors eager to get mixed-use land plots through the New Urban Communities Authority’s (NUCA) new direct allocation system should initially set up a company (joint-stock, solidarity, or individual) that engages in the desired investment activity, Invest-Gate reports.

The next step is to review the investment opportunities available in the new cities on NUCA’s website (www.newcities.gov.eg), or by visiting the competent city authority, Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities Assem El Gazzar asserted in an official statement on October 20.

Afterward, an application is submitted to the NUCA for the required land plot, containing all the necessary data (location description, land use, total area, etc.), and supported by the company’s information. Besides, payment of administrative fees is a must for studying the requests, including EGP 8,000 and EGP 5,000 for integrated urban/tourism and service activities, respectively, El Gazzar explained, noting that investors interested in otherwise fields are entitled to pay EGP 2,000.

Meanwhile, according to Assistant Minister for Community Affairs of NUCA Waleed Abbas, the fifth step conditions depositing 10% of the land value as an upfront payment within 30 days from the date of application submission. This comes on top of presenting the project’s feasibility study to the authority’s board of directors (BoD) to consider approval of allocation, the statement noted.

As for the sixth step, it stipulates that after the BoD nods the allotment, the company is obliged to pay about 15% of the land value, in case of payment in installments – with interest included. However, if going for the lump-sum option, investors shall immediately receive the parcel and proceed with the project implementation, Abbas further stated.

The official pointed out that this new mechanism is aimed at luring more private investors to contribute to the development of newly-established fourth-generation cities and increasing the rates of urban land expansion in the existing areas, especially Upper Egypt. In addition, speeding the procedures of land acquisition through the direct allocation system, effective since last March, considerably contributes to drawing more local and foreign investments, according to the statement.