Following President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s approval of the new Old Rent Law last Monday, a legal and constitutional debate has erupted over the future of the rental relationship between landlords and tenants. The new law introduces fundamental changes, which some have described as “revolutionary,” to one of Egypt’s most sensitive social and economic issues in decades.
The law, which was finally approved by parliament after years of anticipation and conflict between landlords and tenants, has not put an end to legal disputes. Challenges are now being directed to the Supreme Constitutional Court, with calls for a constitutional review, especially concerning the law’s intervention in contracts signed decades ago, some dating back to the first half of the last century.
Dr. Hamdi Omar, a professor of constitutional law and a member of the Committee of Ten Experts who drafted the 2014 constitution, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the Old Rent Law can be challenged before the Constitutional Court, despite the president’s official approval.
Omar explained that a challenge cannot be filed directly with the Constitutional Court. Instead, it must be initiated by an affected tenant filing a lawsuit with a competent civil court. During the proceedings, the tenant can argue for the law’s unconstitutionality. If the judge finds the request to be serious, they can postpone the case for three months to give the affected party an opportunity to file a formal lawsuit with the Supreme Constitutional Court.
He pointed out that the Constitutional Court does not accept direct lawsuits from individuals in order to maintain its organization and prevent legal chaos. Rather, the challenge must come from a judge presiding over an existing case.
Dr. Omar revealed that the Constitutional Court has the authority to review the constitutionality of the Old Rent law on its own initiative if it finds any suspicion of unconstitutionality, even after President El-Sisi’s approval. He predicted that, in either case, a final ruling on this law would not be issued for at least five years due to the usual legal procedures and judicial backlogs.
He added that parliament, as the legislative authority, has the right to amend the law. He noted that the Constitutional Court had previously ruled in the 1990s that old leases could not be extended for more than one generation of heirs. The court also recently issued an important ruling calling for “adjusting the rental value” to match the current economic situation. This gives parliament the right to reconsider the entire law.
Dr. Omar emphasized that the Egyptian constitution protects both private property and the “right to housing” simultaneously. This puts the legislator in a difficult position: how to strike a balance between a landlord who seeks a fair return on their property and a tenant who believes their contract was signed according to legal rules that had been in place for decades.
He explained that while the contract between the two parties was legitimate at the time of its signing, the passage of time and the change in economic and social conditions necessitated a new law to reorganize the relationship. He also noted that many old rental contracts are now held by heirs, meaning the original contractual intent is absent. This, he said, gives the legislator a strong push to reorganize the relationship.
Dr. Ahmed Saeed, a professor of constitutional law, stated that the new law in its current form carries a suspicion of unconstitutionality, especially if it includes the annulment of old contracts within a certain timeframe. He considers this a clear interference with the free will of contracting parties, which contradicts the provisions of the constitution.
He affirmed that the constitution does not prevent parliament from intervening to regulate rental values, but this must be done gradually, respecting old contracts without completely nullifying them.
Saeed proposed setting a starting rental value of EGP 1,000 per month, with an annual increase of 20% to 30 percent, until the rent gradually matches market values over a period of no less than seven years. He noted that the Supreme Constitutional Court had officially requested this amendment in its ruling issued in November 2024, emphasizing that the Egyptian parliament is obligated to issue legislation to address this point before the end of the current legislative session.
He stressed that the court did not rule to abolish the old rent law itself, but merely rejected the stabilization of rental values for long-term contracts without justification. This means that a legislative remedy is necessary without infringing upon the core of the old contracts.
The Constitutional Court issued a historic ruling in November 2024, affirming that stabilizing the rental value of lease contracts for up to 50 years constitutes a breach of economic justice. It ordered a legislative amendment to restore balance between the two parties. In response to this ruling, the House of Representatives voted to give final approval to the draft law last June, amid internal division but with a majority vote in favor of the law, before it was submitted to the President, who officially ratified it last Monday.
