The Ministry of Housing has approved a key measure to ease financial pressures on developers by allowing the 20% down payment on North Coast land transfer fees and Desert Road improvement levies to be paid in installments over one year. The remaining balance will be settled in installments across five years, with the interest rate fixed at 10%, Invest-gate reports.

Eng. Tarek Shoukry, Chairman of the Real Estate Development Chamber at the Federation of Egyptian Industries, confirmed the approval, describing it as a swift and constructive response that underscores the government’s support for the real estate sector and its commitment to resolving challenges facing investors.

He explained that the agreement followed a meeting on September 2, 2025, between Minister of Housing Utilities and Urban Communities, Eng. Sherif El Sherbini, members of the Chamber, and leading developers. The discussions concluded with clarifications that completed projects would be excluded from these fees, lands sold directly by the New Urban Communities Authority would not be subject to the levies, and agricultural lands with limited building ratios fall under agricultural regulations. Additional time extensions were also approved to offset recent project delays, while a proposal to spread the initial down payment over the year is still under review to ease companies’ cash flows.

The fees include EGP 1,000 per sqm for land transfers in the North Coast, alongside road improvement levies of EGP 1,500 per sqm for plots within 1 km of the Desert Road, EGP 750 per sqm within 3 km, and EGP 500 per sqm within 7 km.

Shoukry emphasized that these measures are expected to stimulate new investment in the North Coast and Desert Road regions, enhance urban development, and strike a balance between the interests of the state, developers, and investors.