Resource information
At the request of the Government of
Egypt (GOE), the objective of this brief note is to provide
concise recommendations on next steps for the National
Housing Program (NHP). These recommendations and policy
analysis are an elaboration of the framework for housing
policy reform in urban areas in Egypt, a draft of which was
endorsed by the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban
Development (MHUUD) and the Ministry of Investment (MOI) in
the high-level policy workshop held in September 2007. The
Framework, an evolving strategy building blocks document,
proposed a set of comprehensive housing sector reforms and
improvements to the NHP consisting of five action channels -
unlocking the vacant housing stock, creating a fluid rental
market, enhancing affordability through improved access to
housing finance and reduction of formal housing supply cost,
improved targeting of subsidies, and transforming the
government's role into an enabler of the housing
market. During the Ministerial workshop in September 2007,
it was agreed that the four priority actions were: (i) the
design and implementation of a housing information system;
(ii) mainstreaming the use of demand-based mortgage-linked
subsidy instruments; (iii) set up of a high-level housing
policymaking body to coordinate and rationalize the
interventions of the different concerned stakeholders; and
(iv) expansion of the Housing Demand Study to other areas of
Egypt. United States Agency for International Development or
USAID Second Technical Assistance for Policy Reform, or
TAPRII has completed the design of the housing information
system and has made significant progress in the expansion of
the housing demand survey. The World Bank's technical
assistance to the GOE, reflected in this note and follow up
work, focused on strengthening the housing policymaking
process and subsidy policy and expanding the mortgage linked
subsidy program.
