Foreign investors might soon be able to own as many properties as they want: As part of its efforts tosecure much-needed hard currency, the Madbouly government has been taking steps to attract more foreigners and Egyptian expats to purchase property in Egypt. After making its citizenship-for-FX scheme more generous in March, the government this month announced that it plans to ask the House of Representatives to remove the cap on how many properties foreigners can own. We spoke to people in government to get the details on the potential regulatory changes and caught up with industry association officials to gauge the reaction from the private sector.

First things first: You’re a foreigner and you want to buy more than two properties. For the first time ever, this will be allowed under the new rules, which if passed, will permit foreigners to own as many properties as they want in Egypt.

BUT- Terms and conditions apply: Foreigners must purchase the property with foreign currency. The FX has to be brought from outside the country and deposited in a local state-owned bank. The identity of the seller doesn’t matter: whether you’re buying from a state-owned company or a private developer, no FX, no property, a government source told us.

This applies to your first, second or 20th property — if you’re purchasing from the government: State-owned entities such as the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA) and the Tourism Development Authority will now only sell their properties to foreigners in FX, a government source with knowledge of the matter told Enterprise.

Avoiding the FX rules is easy if you’re just getting on the housing ladder or buying a second home: Foreigners will still be able to buy the first two properties using EGP if they’re buying from a private seller or developer, our sources confirmed.

Remember: Relaxing foreign ownership rules on real estate was one of the 22 economicreforms approved by the Supreme Investment Council in May. Currently, foreigners are allowed to own a maximum of two properties in different cities. NUCA and other state-owned developers are targeting foreigners and Egyptian expats as lucrative sources of FX.

It’s now less expensive for foreign investors to become Egyptian citizens: Amendments to the Citizenship Act passed this year lowered the amount of money foreigners have to bring into the country in order to obtain Egyptian passports. Foreigners can now invest USD 300k into local assets such as real estate to get the green passport, down from USD 500k previously.

INDUSTRY REAX-

A win for real estate developers: This bill could give a boost to local real estate developers, the head of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce’s real estate division, Mohamed El Bustani, told Enterprise. “Egypt boasts many luxurious real estate investments for which we need to attract more buyers from abroad. Gearing real estate to foreign investors serves as a decent FX revenue stream.”

More construction + exhibitions = more foreign investment: More real estate units will spur an increase in the number of foreigners purchasing property in Egypt, Real Estate Export Council Chairman Hisham Shoukry told Enterprise. According to Bustani, the government needs to hold more real estate exhibitions abroad to promote property ownership in Egypt, and sign agreements and bring more FX transfers.

What’s next? The changes will be discussed in the House when MPs return from recess for the new legislative cycle in October, Ahmed Othman, a member of the House Housing Committee, told us.

Tags: