The cabinet has approved amendments of the executive regulations of the 148/2001 Mortgage Finance Law aims to modify the beneficiaries to the fund, Minister of Housing Mostafa Madbouly said Saturday. Madbouly explained that the amendments modify the definition of low-income beneficiaries of the fund, to raise the maximum income of the family from EGP 2,500 per month to EGP 3,000. Head of Mortgage Finance Fund (MFF), Mai Abdel Hamid, commented that the maximum income for those who are eligible to enter the programme was ratified in 2008, adding that it remained with no revision since then. Abdel Hamid noted that the amendments will be reviewed by MFF's board of directors in its next meeting, where they will discuss levels of income for individuals and families. Furthermore, Madbouly pointed out that the amendment will benefit the applicants for the 1m residential units project (Social Housing Project). The project was initially announced during the 25 January Revolution, urging people to apply. This project is not related to President Al-Sisi's 1m housing unit project, announced with Arabtec in March 2014. The post-revolution government announced the project's implementation in July 2012. The national project is expected to provide 1m residential units. Construction was projected to last five years, from fiscal year (FY) 2012/13 to FY 2016/17, with an average of 200,000 units expected to be constructed per year. A study by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, issued in December, has criticised the project, particularly the fact that after three years of adopting the project, some details remained undefined. These include: the number of units that will be established in each governorate; how many units will be established each year; the percentage of implementation; and the specifications of the units. The fourth phase of applying for the programme will be launched in February, Madbouly said. According to the study, the project's implementation is going "at a very slow rate", highlighted by the fact that only 57 units of the project have been handed to citizens. This is out of 13,000 units that should have been handed over as the first phase of the project. The budget allocation for the project in the FY 2014/15 state budget amounts to EGP 9.5bn in total.
