The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) launched, on Tuesday, a new mortgage finance initiative, which will allocate EGP 100bn for low- and middle-income citizens to purchase housing units.
The financing will be available through banks or mortgage finance companies at a diminishing interest rate of 3% for a period of up to 30 years.
The initiative implements directives from President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to provide low- and middle-income citizens with the opportunity to obtain adequate housing at subsidised prices and through long-term payment plans.
In a statement on Tuesday, the CBE clarified that the initiative applies to low-income people whose income and units are determined through the Social Housing and Mortgage Support Fund.
For low-income citizens, the maximum net monthly income is currently EGP 4,500 for an individual and EGP 6,000 for a family. Meanwhile, the value of the unit is currently EGP 350,000 with a 10% down payment to be paid.
As for middle-income beneficiaries of the initiative, the maximum net monthly income is EGP 10,000 for a single individual and EGP 14,000 for a family. A 15% down payment is paid as a minimum of the total unit value, whose price is up to EGP 1.1m.
As for the units whose price is between EGP 1.1m and EGP 1.4m, a minimum of 20% is to be paid as a down payment.
The initiative requires that the beneficiary hold Egyptian nationality, and covers the possibility of self-employed people and those with special needs, as well as pensioners younger than 75 years old by the end of the financing period. The units must be for permanent housing use only, rather than seasonal, and be fully finished and ready for housing.
The new initiative aims to achieve social justice, and to provide the opportunity for all citizens to benefit. It stipulates that the beneficiaries should not have benefited from previous real estate financing initiatives, with financing only provided for one unit.
