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Egypt launched a national digital platform to receive applications for the legalization of informal possession of state-owned land, as authorities begin implementing Law No. 168 of 2025.

The platform was launched by the Supreme Committee for the Recovery of State Lands, chaired by Osama Askar, adviser to the president for military affairs, in coordination with the Ministry of Local Development and its minister, Manal Awad.

The initiative is part of efforts to strengthen governance and transparency in the management of state-owned property.

The platform serves as the official electronic gateway for submitting applications to legalize land held under informal possession.

It allows applicants to submit requests online and track all stages of the process, including site inspections, land valuation, and procedures leading to final contracting, provided they meet the legal requirements.

The launch follows the issuance of Law No. 168 of 2025, which regulates the disposal and legalization of privately owned state property held without formal documentation.

The law was published in the Official Gazette on 13 August 2025 and entered into force in mid-September, replacing Law No. 144 of 2017, whose application period had expired.

Implementation of the law was activated after the cabinet issued its executive regulations, published in the Official Gazette. The regulations detail eligibility conditions, procedural steps, mechanisms for land inspection and valuation, and contracting rules governing the legalization process.

Under the regulations, citizens seeking to legalize their land status are granted a six-month application window, starting from the date work officially begins under the new rules, the Ministry of Local Development said.

The Supreme Committee for the Recovery of State Lands urged those wishing to regularize their status to submit applications promptly through the platform within the specified timeframe.

The committee also confirmed that applications previously submitted under the repealed Law No. 144 of 2017 will continue to be processed under the new law without additional fees, preserving applicants’ acquired rights.

Informal possession of state-owned land has long been a major governance challenge in Egypt. Official estimates over the past decade indicate that millions of feddans of state land were held without full legal title across agricultural, desert, and peri-urban areas.

Authorities say the issue carries significant fiscal and planning implications, as unregulated land use has limited the state’s ability to collect revenues, enforce zoning rules, and integrate large tracts of land into formal development plans.

Since the establishment of the Supreme Committee for the Recovery of State Lands in 2016, the government has pursued a dual-track approach: recovering land in cases of clear illegality while offering legalization mechanisms for serious occupants. Officials say this approach has resulted in billions of pounds in recovered assets and settlements.

In August 2020, enforcement campaigns had recovered about 209,000 feddans of land and 2.5 million square meters of built-up area, underscoring the scale of informal land possession the state sought to address.

Since 2016, Egypt has adopted a nationwide policy combining enforcement campaigns to remove illegal encroachments with legalization mechanisms for occupants who meet statutory conditions.

Authorities say the approach aims to restore the rule of law while integrating viable landholdings into the formal economy, a framework that has since been institutionalized through successive legal reforms, most recently under Law No. 168 of 2025.

Source: Al-Ahram Online