Rental Disputes in Egypt: Basic Rights & Obligations

The first question in any Egyptian tenancy dispute is which legal regime actually governs this specific contract — the answer depends heavily on when the contract was signed, and it materially affects the duration of the tenancy, the rent amount, and how the relationship can end.

Contracts signed after Law No. 4 of 1996 took effect (the "new rent" regime) are governed by freedom of contract: the parties agree on the lease term (short or long), the rent, and the renewal or termination conditions, and the tenancy generally ends when the agreed term expires unless the parties agree to renew it.

Contracts signed before 1996 (the "old rent" regime) were traditionally open-ended in duration with a largely fixed rent. This changed materially under Law No. 164 of 2025, published in the Official Gazette in August 2025 and effective from 5 August 2025. Under Article 2 of the law, old-rent contracts end within a transitional period — 7 years for residential units and 5 years for non-residential units — from the law's effective date.

During this transitional period, the new rent is set under Article 4 according to the property's area classification: 20 times the old rent (minimum 1,000 EGP) in premium zones, 10 times (minimum 400 EGP) in medium zones, and also 10 times (minimum 250 EGP) in economic zones. Non-residential units rented to natural persons are set under Article 5 at 5 times the old rent. The law also provides for a periodic annual increase of 15% during the transitional period.

Under Article 8, the original tenant (or a spouse to whom the contract was extended) is entitled to an alternative residential or non-residential unit from the state, by rental or ownership, before the transitional period ends — conditioned on vacating the current unit, with the alternative unit matching the same purpose (residential/non-residential) and located in the same governorate. Separately, Article 7 provides that a tenant's ownership of another suitable unit can itself be grounds for earlier termination.

Whichever regime applies, ending a lease or evicting a tenant requires following the correct legal process before the competent authorities — a landlord cannot lawfully evict a tenant through self-help (such as changing the locks or cutting utilities) without going through the proper legal channel.

Every rental dispute has its own circumstances, and identifying which legal regime governs your contract is the right starting point for understanding your rights and obligations. See also Real Estate & Property Registration for our broader property services. To discuss a specific rental dispute, you can book a consultation with our team.