The Cairo Governorate has approved the request of a local developer to change the allocation of a 12,000 square metre plot of land from industrial to residential.

The General Construction Company (Rolin), a subsidiary of the Holding Company for Construction and Development (HCCD) is now studying the development of a government housing project on the plot of land in the Sharabeya district of Cairo, a company spokesperson told MEED in Cairo on 2 March.

Part of the fees payable by Rolin for the change of allocation will be paid in units, according to a company spokesperson who said the project will offer low-income housing.

In February this year, another local developer, Azmeel Group, started work on a $122m housing project under an agreement with the housing ministry’s New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA), which waived the land cost.

The scheme is part of the government’s efforts to encourage private sector participation in the development of much needed housing across the country.

In 2016, the government said it was ready to start developing affordable housing schemes under the public private partnership (PPP) model. Since the announcement no housing projects have been added to the PPP Central Unit’s portfolio.

The expectation is Cairo’s partnership with the private sector for housing schemes will come in the form of waived and discounted land costs.

At the end of 2016 MEED reported that Egypt’s Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Development has increased the budget of NUCA. It is understood that the budget for the current financial year has been increased to approximately $2.7bn for urban developments, which the Ismaliya project falls under.

The ministry has previously told MEED that it completed 300,000 units in 2016.