The cabinet last week approved a draft bill that allows for an amnesty on buildings constructed illegally since the 25 January Revolution, including under the 2008 housing and construction law. The law, the first of its kind, will be in force for only six months and is to be signed by President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi. According to Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Development Mostafa Madboli, the law is intended to cover units constructed without building permits after the 25 January Revolution. But Madboli said that no settlement would be reached with the owners of buildings that are in violation of the zoning or height regulations set out by the Civil Aviation Authority and the Supreme Council for Planning and Urban Development. The bill does not include the owners of units built on land affiliated to public bodies or against rules set by the armed forces. Following the 25 January Revolution, thousands of illegally built units appeared across Egypt, many of them on agricultural land. The exact number of violations is unknown, but some experts put them in the neighbourhood of 50,000 units. Builders were taking advantage of the general power vacuum that followed the removal of former president Hosni Mubarak. Egypt lost 150,000 feddans of agricultural land over the past three years, compared to 30,000 annually before the revolution, according to Minister of Agriculture Adel Al-Beltagi. If buildings continue to go up at such a high rate, with still more agricultural land falling out of cultivation, the country's food security will be threatened. Nafesa Hashem, head of the ministry's housing and utilities sector, said that the law stipulated the formation of a technical committee to revise the compliance of unauthorised buildings, including safety requirements, in order to lead to a possible amnesty. It says that the owners of unauthorised buildings must pay a fine equivalent to their construction costs to be granted an amnesty. Once the fine is paid, all legal procedures against the unit and its owner will be halted. If, on the other hand, the committee refuses the amnesty request, the issue will be transferred to the local governor who will decide on the demolition of part or the entirety of an unauthorised building. Fifty-five per cent of the fines will be directed to financing social housing, with another 20 per cent allocated to informal housing development. Ayman Masoud, an engineer and the owner of a villa in New Cairo, said that the law would end illegal construction and help provide extra revenue to the state budget. “It is a practical solution as it would be wrong to demolish huge numbers of buildings at a cost of LE10 billion,” he said. However, the new law has not been welcomed by everyone. Some suspect that it could spread corruption and increase the size of slum areas. Salem Mohamed, one of Masoud's neighbours in New Cairo, said that the law “encourages people to break the law” and leaves the door open to corruption. “In new cities such as Al-Shorouk and New Cairo, construction licences are given according to guides concerning the height of the building and the uniform character of the facades,” he said. “Unlicenced units violate these regulations, and by legalising them there is a danger that the new cities will themselves become like informal housing areas.” Both Masoud and Mohamed agreed that amendments are needed to the current law to facilitate the acquisition of building licences. The Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Development is currently studying amendments to the 2008 housing and construction law. A committee has been formed to revise the law and propose amendments.
