Joint statement: Reforming Egypt’s Old Rent Law in Light of the Constitutional Court Ruling.. Proposals to Safeguard the Right to Housing

In a joint statement published today by six human rights and research organisations and lawyers concerned with the right to housing, offered a proposal for reforming the Old Rent Law in the wake of the ruling of the unconstitutionality of fixing rent values last November. In light of the judgement, and the draft law proposed by the government, and the ensuing discussions in the House of Representatives by MPs, tenants‘ representatives and landlords’ representatives, and the signatory group’s experience in housing rights issues, we put forward a set of proposals that safeguard the rights to housing and to private property, in a method that avoids social and economic crises, through four main pillars: Fair treatment of existing contracts, rent increases based on legal rather than market values, cash support for the most vulnerable tenants, and reform of the rental system as a whole, of both Old Rent and New Rent.

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