On Tuesday, the Ministry of Housing started the booking of units in the new, distinguished social housing project "Sakan Misr". The project is characterised by simple procedures that is much easier than those of governmental middle-class and social housing. It does not require a salary statement, insurance, and social statement. Its only condition is that the age of the applicant be not less than 21 years old and that they do not acquire housing units of the state's housing projects. The only conditions are that the applicant submits their national ID and pay a down payment EGP 25,000. The selection will be done through a public draw. The unit price ranges from EGP 320,000 to EGP 400,000 depending on location and the city to be booked. The cities provided for booking in the Housing Egypt project are New Cairo, Obour City, 6th of October City, Badr City, New Minya, New Damietta, New Alamein, West Assiut. The number of units to be placed for booking is 40,000, and the unit will be delivered in one and a half years, and the area provided for the distinguished social housing unit is 115 sqm. Minister of Housing Mostafa Madbouly said that the applicant will pay 10% of the total price of the unit as a reservation and 10% upon allocation, after winning the public draw. The Minister of Housing added that the rest of the unit's price will be paid in quarterly instalments of EGP 10,000 per instalment, for a period of one and a half years. Upon receipt of the unit, 10% will be paid. The rest of the unit price will be calculated and paid by choosing one of two options. The first option is to pay the rest of the value of the housing unit for five years without adding interest rate with the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA). The second option is to pay the rest of the value of the housing unit over 15 years with an interest rate of 8.5% within the mortgage system with the banks participating in the real estate finance initiative. There has been great interest among applicants for booking units in eight branches of the Housing and Development Bank (HDB). Daily News Egypt asked the applicant about their interest in booking units. The project is very similar to that of Dar Misr, a governmental project for upper-middle-income housing, especially in their design and finishing. Sakan Misr's units are, however, cheaper than Dar Misr's, said Badr Mohamed. One of the applicants, Dalia Saeed, noted that the procedures in Sakan Misr are simpler than those of normal social housing projects. Saeed added that paying the rest of the unit over five years without interest is an advantage that is non-existent in other governmental housing projects. Furthermore, a source at the Housing Ministry said that the third phase of Dar Misr project, which will be offered to citizens at the beginning of next year, might increase the price per metre by 20% more than that of Sakan Misr. The source asserted that this increase is due to the high prices of building materials and changes in the market. The outcome of the first day to sell conditions booklets for units reservation amounted to 8,463 conditions booklets in the branches of the HDB, according to Housing Minister. It is worth mentioning that the construction work of Sakan Misr was launched four months ago. The booking down payment starts from 10 September to 5 October at the branches of the HDB.
