Gov’t announces “seriousness” fees for settlement of building code violations: Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly announced the values of fees required to demonstrate seriousness for applicants seeking to settle building code violations, in a meeting with the ministers of finance, housing and local development on Tuesday, a cabinet statement said. The fees must be submitted alongside the settlement applications, and will be deducted from the overall charges if the applications are accepted. Demolition procedures will commence right away for rejected applications.

Applicants who have already submitted settlement requests can start paying their fees from 15 July. There is currently a backlog of 325k such applications. For new settlement applicants, the deadline will be 30 September.

The new fees must be brought in line with current building legislation, House Housing Committee member Ihab Mansour told Al Mal. Legislation stipulates that applicants must pay at least 25% of the overall violation fees in a lump sum within 60 days of the application being accepted, or in quarterly installments over a maximum of three years.