President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi directed the government and the Tahya Misr Fund on Tuesday, 20 October 2026, to cooperate on the construction of 200,000 housing units designated for rent, with the two splitting the cost equally. He made the remarks during his participation in the “Urban and Built-Environment Development” session on the second day of Egypt Forum 2026, in the presence of Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.
Sisi linked the directive to the old rent law, saying the aim of the law was to bring about a shift in the culture of ownership and restore renting as a means of providing housing. He added that for decades the state had been unable to replace the private sector and civil society in building the homes citizens need, which contributed to the spread of informal housing.
In the same session, the president witnessed the announcement of an agreement between the state and Talaat Moustafa Group to develop, build and operate four major mixed-use projects worth 11 trillion pounds ($227.74 billion): North Madinaty, a project on 11.3 million square metres in the heart of Alexandria, an industrial, logistics and real estate project in Abu Qir, and a coastal destination on the North Coast. According to a statement by the presidential spokesperson, Sisi asked the government to cooperate with the group in building 200,000 rental housing units, and the statement did not clarify whether these are the same units assigned to the Tahya Misr Fund.
The president also directed that all projects related to the “Hayah Karima” initiative be completed by 2030 at the latest. The presidency and the government have not yet announced the proposed rents, the target groups, the locations of the units or the timeline for their implementation.
Photo: Faris El-Gwely via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
