Legal Advice

The real estate market in Egypt is incredibly volatile and complex. With the assistance of a knowledgeable tax and legal team, every transaction in this field needs to be handled carefully.

The likelihood is that purchasing a home will be the largest financial transaction of your life.
Being ready is therefore essential, as problems can arise at any point during the procedure.

Green contract. What is it?

The green contract got its name because of green colored  seals that are put on the document in the process of its approval in 7 different government instances. Green Contract is issued by the state authorities of ARE in the name of one or more owners of a property.

Green contract is not a free form document. Its appearance, content are regulated by the Law of the Republic of Egypt No. 114 of 1964 (Act on the entry into private property rights of real estate).

Green contract – a document confirming that the property indicated in it and its current owner are in the unified state register of real estate in Egypt.

The presence of the Green contract guarantees the inviolability of property by the state. Green contract is issued only in two cities of Egypt – Kena and Cairo.

The presence of a Green contract for a property, for example, an apartment, is possible only on condition that the developer has a Green contract for the building where the property is located, or on the land where it is built.

To issue a Green Contract, the construction of the building must be completed.

Since there is no obligation for all property owners in the ARE to have a registration certificate of ownership, most “newly-made” property owners in Hurghada only go through the procedure for registering their sale contracts in The Hurghada court, which in most cases is sufficient.

The current Egyptian legislation does not establish a deadline for a Green Contract registration, therefore it can be done at any time after registering a sale contract in The Hurghada court. Since the procedure for obtaining a Green contract is quite lengthy and excludes the possibility of selling real estate within 5 years after registration, it is not recommended to go through it to investors who are set up for quick resale of property in Hurghada.

To go through the procedure for obtaining a Green Contract, the property owner must collect a certain set of documents:

• technical passport for your property, which is issued by the technical supervision department of Hurghada;

• sale contract of your property registered in Hurghada court;

• your Taukil and all Taukil’s from previous owners of the property;

• a certificate of tax registration from the tax authority, as well as a certificate of the market value of the registered property, and a tax return;

• contracts with electric company and city water supply company

• power of attorney for a lawyer who is authorized to represent the interests of the owner

• copy of a valid passport 

Since the documents must be written in Arabic, it is better to entrust paperwork to a reliable lawyer or law office.

Sometimes  there is no Green contract for the building where the purchased apartment is located. In this situation, the new owner asks to register the property in Sharaa Akari through a lawyer. After documents verification in state notary’s office, they detect violations of buyer rights. Then they independently file a claim at court for buyer rights restoration.

After receiving a positive court decision, the State Notary Office conducts registration of Sahih wa nafaz, which is essentially a Green contract, but subject to the absence of a Green contract for a building or land.