Owners of Al-Rabia land in El Shorouk City face a crisis with the El Shorouk City Development Authority because of delays in the procedures to regularise the land they bought from land-subdivision companies. The crisis dates back to the Ministry of Agriculture selling it in the 1990s to its first owners, among them Gad El-Haq Ali Gad El-Haq, the former Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Alia Nushi and actress Hanan Turk, at a price ranging between three and four thousand per feddan at the time, and the proceeds of the sale reached, according to sources we spoke to, about EGP 5 million.
It later became clear that the land was not suitable for agriculture, so the first owners later sold it to a number of land-subdivision companies at different times, and these companies sold it to citizens at prices ranging between EGP 700 and 1,500 per metre depending on location. Some citizens managed to build on their land before the inauguration of the Regional Ring Road and the Monastery of the Virgin Mary and Abu Sefein, but after the monastery was inaugurated, citizens bought new plots and built on them within Al-Rabia, while the built-up area does not exceed about 5% of the total area of Al-Rabia land, amounting to 2,011 feddans, before the decision to transfer the land’s jurisdiction to the New Urban Communities Authority, according to sources at the El Shorouk City Development Authority.
Waiting for a Decision Allowing Disposal of the Land
Catherine Magdy* (50) bought a 200-metre plot of land from the Thomas company, one of the land-subdivision companies, in 2014 at a price of EGP 1,000 per metre, for a total of EGP 200,000. She was unable to build on it, and was surprised by a ministerial decision banning its disposal until its status was regularised. The woman in her fifties entered a crisis because she was unable to pay the regularisation amount, estimated at EGP 1,200 per metre for a total of EGP 240,000, exceeding the price paid at the time of purchase.
Catherine is one of thousands who bought from land-subdivision companies and to date have been unable to build on or dispose of their land, because of delays in the El Shorouk Development Authority’s regularisation procedures for them.
Catherine says, speaking to Zawia3: “We bought from several land-subdivision companies under signature-validity contracts and a registered chain of ownership, and years later we were surprised by delays in handing the land over to us after the development authority became the one controlling it, and we have no right to dispose of it, whether by building or selling. The authority announced the opening of status regularisation at a price of EGP 200 at first, then they raised the price to EGP 500, reaching EGP 1,200 for regularising a single metre, which exceeds the price of the land at the time of purchase by 20%, so we bear the payment of these amounts in order to receive our land, while the companies that sold it to us were not held accountable.”
She adds: “Some were able to build before the development authority took over this file seven years ago, only to be surprised later by demands to pay the building reconciliation fee. Although some contracted with the authority and paid part of the regularisation instalments, the land was not handed over to them, like us, so we all remain unable to dispose of our property, whether by building or selling, with anyone who bought a plot of less than 209 metres obliged to buy a new plot to complete the area to 209 metres or to partner with another neighbour so that the single plot becomes 209 metres.”
Former Prime Minister Eng. Ibrahim Mahlab issued ministerial Decree No. 2119 of 2015, which stipulated the reallocation of an area of 5,302.3 feddans of state-owned land to the New Urban Communities Authority as a new urban community, and its annexation to El Shorouk City, with the Armed Forces retaining ownership of four sites as strategic areas of military importance within that area, with a total area of 865 feddans.
Amending the Boundaries of El Shorouk City’s Cordon
Article 1 of Presidential Decree No. 636 issued in 2017 stipulated that “the land enclosed between the cordon of Badr City and the Regional Ring Road to the east, the Ismailia desert road to the north, the Cairo-Suez desert road to the south, and the Ring Road and the Saad El-Shazly axis to the west, needed to amend the boundaries of El Shorouk City’s cordon, with an area of 52,991.83 feddans, shall be considered among the areas for establishing new urban communities, while affirming proven ownerships, whether owned by government bodies, private ownerships or individuals.” Article 2 of the same decree stipulated that the General Authority for Reconstruction Projects and Agricultural Development shall hand over to the New Urban Communities Authority all the documents in its possession relating to the land area, including those proving any dealings made on parts of it, whatever their purpose, whether dealings with associations, individuals, or private or public companies. Accordingly, building and dealings on the land of the Al-Rabia association, with an area of 2,011 feddans, were halted, and it was transferred from the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture to that of the New Urban Communities Authority, with the El Shorouk City authority taking over this file.
Anis Bishoy*, in his fifties, also bought a 160-metre plot at EGP 700 per metre from the Al-Basem company in the Al-Rabia area in 2011, under a signature-validity contract registered against the seller at the real estate registry. He was able to build on it but has so far been unable to regularise his status despite paying a reconciliation amount of about EGP 30,000, equivalent to 25% of the reconciliation value. He says: “I submitted an application to regularise the status of my land, but approval of my application has not yet been announced, and I have not lived in the building since it was built because the area has not yet been populated; it is still desert not served by utilities, septic tanks are in place and water is repeatedly cut off.”
Anis reveals that some have not yet submitted regularisation applications, but during their meeting with officials, they were promised that the door would open for the fourth and final time to receive regularisation applications “during November 2024 or at the beginning of next year”, to accommodate those who have not yet applied. He called for speeding up the regularisation of owners’ status by announcing the lottery to hand these people their land, and for speeding up the issuance of licences.
Payment Without Handover of the Land
George Ibrahim, in his forties and one of those affected, has been unable to build on the Al-Rabia land he bought in two plots with a total area of 238 metres from the Al-Basem land-subdivision company in 2014 and 2016, despite submitting an application to regularise his status to the El Shorouk City Development Authority in 2024 and paying a down payment of EGP 67,000 in July 2024; his status has not yet been regularised.
George says: “We were optimistic about the decision to transfer ownership of the land to the authority so that the buildings and land would be designed in an organised way, but since the decision was issued, dealings on the land have been halted, whether by building or selling. When I applied for regularisation, they asked for a down payment of EGP 67,000, with payment in three annual instalments of EGP 67,000 each, so that the total regularisation amount required is EGP 250,000 for an area of 209 metres after deducting 15% of the land.”
George adds: “Despite the agreement between us and the El Shorouk City authority to pay the regularisation instalment annually, we were surprised that they demanded that our colleagues who paid the down payment in 2023 pay the first instalment for the utilities connection, even though the utilities have not yet been connected. They demanded that they pay the instalment this year, and if any of them does not pay, a fine will be imposed and the land will be withdrawn, land for which no lottery has been held, which has not been planned or levelled, which utilities have not reached and which has not yet been handed over to us.” He noted the need to issue a decision that instalments are not to be paid until utilities are connected, to stop the authority collecting 11% of the land’s value under the real estate regulations if it is sold, and to cancel the 2.5% surcharge.
The land whose jurisdiction was transferred to the authority is distinguished by its prime location as a main frontage of the city, as the Al-Rabia association land lies in the most distinguished areas, from the Ismailia road to the Regional Ring Road. Mohamed El-Sayed Abdel Maksoud, head of the El Shorouk City Development Authority, says, speaking to Zawia3: “We received 20,000 land regularisation applications during the first and second phases after the regularisation window opened on 12 January 2020. We have studied more than 50% of the applications submitted, and there are applications that have received availability, and we are taking the necessary procedures with them for regularisation. We have also allocated land to them according to the new plan, as the area of Al-Rabia land is 2,011 feddans, while squatted lands are dealt with according to ministerial decisions.”
Regarding some people’s complaints about the authority collecting 11% during sales transactions, the head of the authority says: “This is subject to the real estate regulations set by the Ministry of Housing for any dealing on new city land, and Al-Rabia land is one of them after being annexed to the new cities, as this percentage is collected on any property as administrative fees for the authority to carry out the assignment process.”
He adds: “Those who will be allowed to build are those who passed through the three lotteries that were held, as we are carrying out projects to complete utilities, water, sewage, electricity and a road network; as soon as they are completed in January 2025, we will hand over receipt reports to people, and after a person receives a receipt report, they will be able to proceed with licensing procedures to issue a building permit.” The head of the authority points out that the smallest building model in the new cities is 209 metres, the model applied in the new cities as the minimum land area, and that the regularisation amount ranges from EGP 900 to 1,600 depending on the bracket, as road-levelling works for the neighbourhoods and the connection of sewage and drinking water networks are currently under way on Al-Rabia land.
The hopes of Catherine, Anis, George and thousands of owners of Al-Rabia land remain suspended, despite the El Shorouk City Development Authority’s promises to start licensing procedures and hand over reports to beneficiaries starting in January 2025. They hope that their crisis will end soon and that the obstacles they face will be resolved, perhaps most notably the regulation of the regularisation amount and the Ministry of Housing’s cancellation of the real estate regulations clause imposed during sales transactions.
