Egypt's Urban Development Fund opens reservations for Darah project through HDB

Darah achieves the presidential initiative objectives to improve the level of housing services in governorates' capitals and major cities: UDF Chairperson

Chairperson of the Urban Development Fund (UDF) Khaled Sedeek announced the opening of reservations for the Darah project — one of the projects of the presidential National Sustainable Cities initiative — starting from Sunday 18 December until Thursday 12 January 2023 in cooperation with the Housing and Development Bank (HDB) through the bank's website.
In a press conference held on Sunday, Sedeek said that the project comes within the framework of the state's efforts to provide suitable housing units for all segments with the best specifications in a way that contributes to raising the level of housing services in capitals of governorates and major cities in implementation of the initiative launched by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi for urban development.
"It was decided to launch the first phase of Darah to develop the capitals of the governorates and major cities in nine governorates, namely Menoufiya, Daqahleya, Qena, Sohag, Minya, Fayoum, Suez, Kafr El-Sheikh, and Damietta with a total of 1,284 units with various spaces ranging from 90 to 127 and 179 sqm with luxurious finishing that suit the needs of upper middle-class income and investment housing," he noted
Seddek further pointed out that the HDB will undertake the process of reserving units in accordance with the cooperation agreement signed between the fund and the bank.
He explained that those wishing to reserve housing units can access the website of the HDB to complete the reservation procedures, view or print terms of reference, and find out all details related to spaces of residential units, their prices, and building numbers, with the ability to view a video explaining the steps of booking in detail without the need to create a special account on the website.
"The bank is scheduled to receive reservation requests during the aforementioned period, after which, the bank will start reviewing submitted requests within a week, starting from Sunday, 15 January 2023 until Thursday, 19 January 2023, to be followed by a final stage for selecting housing units, starting from Sunday 22 January 2023 to 26 January 2023. The process of reserving units does not require being based in the same governorate, as any housing unit in the project can be reserved in any governorate," he added.
Regarding the required documents to reserve the units, he elaborated that reservations can only be made with a copy of the applicant's national ID card. For cases of reservation on the behalf of minors, it is necessary to hand over the birth certificate of the minor and a copy of the national ID card of their guardian.
He further explained that if the applicant for the reservation is a legal professional, they will apply in the name of the legal representative or the owner of the company while delivering a copy of their national ID card, pointing out that it is possible for those applying for reservations to benefit from the advantages of the mortgage financing initiative without any conditions.
The project provides different facilities and payment plans, Sedeek said, adding that there are three different plans for paying instalments over three, five, or seven years, after an initial 15% down-payment is paid.
The offered units represent only 5% of the total of the first phase of the project to develop the capitals of governorates and major cities.
They are distributed as follows — 88 units in Shebin Al-Koum, Menoufiya; 60 units in Mansoura, Daqahleya; 360 units in Qena, Qena; 72 units in Sohag City, Sohag; 96 units in west Minya, Minya; 160 units in Fayoum City, Fayoum; 192 units in Suez City, Suez; 176 units in Kafr El-Sheikh City, Kafr El-Sheikh; 80 units in south Ras Al-Bar, Damietta.
Sedeek also disclosed that all project phases enjoy all services and fundamental service and commercial facilities, and in all residential sites there are public spaces, green spaces, and parking spaces representing about 60% of the project area in order to ensure privacy and luxury.
For his part, Hassan Ghanem — Chairperson and Managing Director of the HDB — said that the bank has completed its preparations to open the door for reservations within Darah, which he described as contributing to achieving an urban shift in housing levels in the governorates, as it enjoys the best specifications and finishes at competitive prices.
Ghanem added that the Urban Development Fund provided applicants with several alternatives to pay units in instalments to choose the most suitable one in a way that meets needs of all the project's target segments.
Ghanem also expressed his happiness at the partnership with the Urban Development Fund to complete the process of reserving and allocating units, stressing that the bank's experience extends for about 40 years in the field of urban development and will help achieve the fund's goals to extend the umbrella of distinguished housing to major cities and capitals of Egyptian governorates.