Egypt's Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, Sherif El-Sherbiny, announced a new policy allowing citizens who have complied with existing building permits to apply for increased building ratios for penthouses in new cities. The announcement came during a meeting with heads of new city authorities to discuss the implementation of Law No. 187 of 2023, which aims to regularise building violations. The meeting, attended by senior officials from the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA), focused on the application of the law and its implementing regulations. Minister El-Sherbiny emphasised that the new policy is intended to encourage compliance with building regulations, noting that applications for increased building ratios for penthouses will be accepted starting December 1st, 2024. The minister highlighted the broader importance of the reconciliation law, emphasising its role in achieving a more civilised and sustainable urban landscape, particularly in new cities. He stated that the law aims to regularise building violations, alleviate the burden on new city authorities tasked with enforcing demolition orders, and generate funds for ongoing development projects. To increase awareness of the law and encourage citizens to submit applications for regularisation, the minister instructed ministry officials and NUCA representatives to intensify efforts to inform the public about the process and its benefits. They were tasked with developing and disseminating informational materials through various communication channels. The meeting also included discussions on common building violations in new cities, methods for addressing these violations while ensuring the structural integrity of infrastructure and adherence to the reconciliation law and its regulations. Heads of new city authorities presented their concerns and questions, and the panel responsible for responding to inquiries related to the reconciliation law was instructed to prepare comprehensive answers and share them with all new cities. The panel will also formulate proposals for amendments to the law, which will be presented to the cabinet for review and subsequent submission to the legislature. Minister El-Sherbiny reaffirmed the ministry's and NUCA's commitment to providing full support to new city authorities to expedite the processing of reconciliation applications. He emphasised the importance of uniform understanding of violations across all new cities, comprehensive inventory of all building violations, and a detailed study of the expected revenue to be collected from reconciliation in each city. Waleed Abbas, Deputy Head of NUCA for Planning and Projects, stressed the need to expedite the processing of applications and reinforce the review committees established by new city authorities with external experts, if needed, to ensure efficient processing of applications. Amin Ghoneim, Deputy Head of NUCA for Urban Development, highlighted the importance of the reconciliation law in addressing building violations and maintaining the urban landscape of new cities. He directed city authorities to intensify efforts to review and approve reconciliation applications, and to proactively monitor and prevent new violations. Nefisa Mahmoud Hashem, Head of the Panel Responding to Inquiries Regarding the Reconciliation Law, confirmed that the panel is actively responding to questions from new city authorities in collaboration with the NUCA's planning and urban development sectors. The panel has also produced three guidance manuals on the reconciliation process for citizens, technical committees, grievance committees, and relevant administrative authorities. These manuals have been distributed to all new city authorities to educate citizens, encourage participation in the reconciliation process, clarify the roles of administrative authorities and committees, and assist them in fulfilling their duties.
