Old Rent Law Egypt: What Changed and Who's Affected

If you're renting under a pre-1996 contract, or you inherited one from a parent, the ground just shifted under you. Parliament passed Law 164 of 2025 in July, and the Constitutional Court had already struck down the perpetual-renewal rules in November 2024. Here's what that actually means.

Quick answer

The old rent law in Egypt — the frozen-rent regime from Laws 49/1977 and 136/1981 — is being phased out under Law 164 of 2025. Residential tenants keep their units for 7 more years (until July 2032), then must vacate. Non-residential tenants get 5 years. Rents jump immediately: 20× the current rent in prime areas, 10× in middle areas, with a 250 EGP floor, plus 15% annual increases. Inheritance of the lease is also sharply curtailed.

What the old rent law actually was

For decades, Egypt had two parallel rental markets. "Old rent" contracts signed under Law 49/1977 and Law 136/1981 froze the rent at whatever it was when the lease started — sometimes 5 or 10 EGP a month — and let the tenancy pass to the tenant's children and grandchildren. Landlords couldn't raise the rent. They couldn't easily evict. They often couldn't even sell the building for anything close to market value.^[1]

"New rent" contracts, governed by Law 4/1996 and the Civil Code, work normally: fixed term, market rent, no inheritance of tenancy.

So when people say "old rent law Egypt," they mean that frozen pre-1996 regime that locked roughly 2–3 million units into rents that stopped making sense decades ago.

What the Constitutional Court did in 2024

On 9 November 2024, Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that the perpetual extension of old residential leases — the mechanism that kept rents frozen indefinitely — was unconstitutional. The court gave Parliament until the end of the legislative session to fix it.^[2]

That ruling is what forced Law 164 of 2025 into existence. Without it, the old regime would have collapsed with no transition rules at all.

What Law 164 of 2025 changes

Published in the Official Gazette on 5 August 2025, Law 164 of 2025 sets a hard end date on old-rent contracts and reprices them in the meantime.^[3]

The core rules:

• Residential tenants: contract ends 7 years from the law's effective date — around July 2032.
• Non-residential tenants (shops, offices, clinics): contract ends 5 years from the effective date — around July 2030.
• Rent reset: immediately on the law taking effect, rent is multiplied by 20 in "distinguished" areas, 10 in "middle" areas, and set to a minimum of 250 EGP/month regardless.
• Annual increase: 15% every year during the transition period.
• Area classification: a committee in each governorate decides which neighborhoods are prime, middle, or economic — expected to be finalized within months of the law's publication.

Watch out: The 20× and 10× multipliers apply to the current legal rent, not market rent. If you've been paying 15 EGP for a Zamalek apartment, you're now paying 300 EGP, then 345, then 397, and so on. Still a bargain. But the real crunch is 2032, when you have to leave or sign a market-rate lease.

Inheritance of the lease — the big change for families

Under the old regime, a tenant's spouse, children, and sometimes grandchildren could inherit the right to stay. Entire families built lives around a 20 EGP rent that passed through generations.

Law 164 of 2025 ends that. The remaining transition period (5 or 7 years) is the last window. After it expires, there's no renewal, no inheritance, no extension. Heirs who are living in the unit at the time of the original tenant's death get to stay only until the transition period ends — not beyond.^[3]

Honestly, this is the part most families haven't absorbed yet. The rent hike stings. The 2032 deadline reshapes lives.

What landlords should do now

If you own a unit under old rent, three practical steps:

1. Get the area classification confirmed by your governorate's committee once published — this determines whether you charge 10× or 20×.
2. Send a formal notice to the tenant of the new rent, dated and documented. Registered mail with return receipt is the standard proof.
3. Keep records of every payment during the transition. When 2032 comes, you'll want a clean file if the tenant refuses to vacate.

Eviction at the end of the transition still goes through the courts. Don't change locks, cut utilities, or try self-help — that's a criminal offense under the Penal Code and will cost you the case.

What tenants should do now

Start planning for 2032 or 2030. Seven years sounds like a lot. It isn't, if you need to buy or find a market-rate rental in Cairo or Alexandria.

• Check whether your contract is actually "old rent" — contracts signed after January 1996 are already governed by Law 4/1996 and aren't affected by this reform.
• Pay the new rent on time. Non-payment grounds for eviction still apply, and the court won't be sympathetic.
• If you're elderly, disabled, or financially vulnerable, watch for the alternative-housing provisions the government has signaled — the law references state-provided units for qualifying tenants, but the executive regulations are still being drafted.^[3]

For related tenancy questions, see tenancy answers on egyptlaw.ai.

Is the new law final?

Several constitutional challenges have already been filed against Law 164 of 2025 — mostly from tenant associations arguing the transition is too short and the rent increases too steep. The Supreme Constitutional Court could narrow parts of the law, but a full reversal is unlikely given its own 2024 ruling demanded this reform.

Treat the current rules as the baseline. Adjust if a court modifies them.

---