Guides to short stays in Cairo
Ayman Elmiligui · Updated 2026-10-25
Yes. Short-term rentals are legal in Egypt. Furnished apartments have been let under the Civil Code since Law 4 of 1996, and since 2025 the state has started licensing the apartments that host tourists through the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, under a category the decree calls holiday homes. On 6 July 2026 the minister announced a one-year grace period to comply; after it, a unit that hosts a tourist without a licence is in breach. This guide explains what changed, what an owner should do now, and what it means for a guest.
This is a guide written by a host, not legal advice. Every sentence about the law below reports what a named source said and when; the sources are listed at the end.
Legal, and now regulated. Two layers do the work. The first is the Civil Code: Law 4 of 1996 put every unit let for the first time after January 1996, furnished or unfurnished, under the Civil Code, which means a fixed-term contract that ends when its term ends. A furnished apartment let by the night has always sat there.
The second layer is newer. In December 2024 the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities said Airbnb-style rentals would be brought under the ministry with simple guidelines, and in 2025 the ministry issued the decree that does it. So the question is no longer whether daily rental is legal in Egypt; it is whether your unit needs a licence, and most units that host tourists now do.
Search for daily rental and Google returns the old-rent law. Law 164 of 2025, signed on 4 August 2025, reforms the decades-old contracts frozen under the old rent laws and schedules their end; the first 15% rise on those rents took effect on 1 September 2026. It does not touch a furnished apartment let by the night, which was never under the old rent laws.
So if you are an owner with a furnished flat and you read that the new rent law changes everything, it changes nothing for you. What changes your situation is the tourism decree in the next section.
Decree 209 of 2025 of the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, dated 27 March 2025 and published in the Official Gazette on 12 May 2025, sets the conditions for licensing holiday home units. It rests on Law 8 of 2022 on hotel and tourism establishments and Law 27 of 2023 on tourism chambers.
Ahram Online, reporting the decree on 9 April 2025, described a holiday home as any unit, from a single room to a suite or a villa, in a standalone building or part of one, with basic services, in a tourist zone or an upscale residential community, and open to Egyptian and foreign guests. Masrawy, on 11 November 2025, added the condition for the whole-building pattern: a building given over entirely to this use, with no fewer than eight apartments or studios.
The procedure, as both reports describe it, is a notification: the owner or operator notifies the ministry electronically on the form published on its website, submits the documents the competent department asks for, and completes the steps for a tourism compliance certificate. Fees and taxes are paid with it; the decree's own fee figures were not published in any report read for this guide, so none is quoted here.
The decree is about units that host tourists for short stays. A furnished apartment let on a one-year contract to a family is a lease under the Civil Code and is not what the ministry is licensing. A furnished apartment let by the night to visitors, whether through Airbnb, Booking.com or direct, is.
Al-Borsa's report of the July 2026 announcement says the licensing system covers independent hotel apartments as well as residential buildings that want to convert to hotel use, so a single apartment inside an ordinary residential block is within the scope, not only whole buildings. The hotel apartments in Cairo that Mazar Stays lists are this kind of unit: a furnished flat in a compound, run by a named host, booked by the night.
Furnished and hotel apartments in Cairo, booked direct
At a press conference at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization on 6 July 2026, the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Sherif Fathy, said the ministry would regularise hotel apartments and rented units within one year, and that after that no owner of a hotel unit would be allowed to receive tourists without an official licence to practise the activity from the ministry. Masrawy and Al-Borsa both reported it the same day.
Two other things were announced with it. A Prime Minister's decree exempts investors and citizens from all fees for converting a property from residential to hotel use, provided the approved building requirements are met. And an official put the number of licensed hotel apartments at about 600 so far, mostly in the Red Sea, South Sinai and Cairo, according to Al-Borsa.
One honest caveat the news pieces do not lead with: implementation has been slow. In 2026 members of parliament filed briefing requests about delays in licensing under decree 209 and about the conditions for units listed on online platforms. So the rule is real, the deadline is announced, and the office processing it has a backlog. Start early.
Read the decree's definition against your unit: a furnished apartment in a compound in New Cairo, Madinaty, Sheikh Zayed or Nasr City is in a residential community the decree describes, and the compound's own rules on short stays apply on top of it. Then notify the ministry on its online form, keep the documents ready (the ownership or allocation contract, a utility receipt, your national ID, and tax registration if you operate through a company), and expect an inspection before the compliance certificate.
I have hosted in Cairo since 2023, and the paperwork is the part most owners put off until a guest asks about it. If you would rather not follow the file yourself, Airbnb management in Cairo is exactly that job: a host who lists the apartment, handles the guests and the cleaning, and keeps the paperwork and the monthly statement in order, from 5% of the stay.
Hand your apartment to a host: how it works and what it costs
Rental income is taxable in Egypt. Under the income tax law, Law 91 of 2005, income from real estate is taxed after a deemed 50% deduction for costs, at the progressive rates the law sets, as Elwatan explained in a 2024 report. A unit run as a business, with cleaning, guests by the night and a listing, may be classed as a commercial activity rather than passive rent, and that changes the arithmetic.
Which classification applies to you is the Egyptian Tax Authority's call, not this guide's. The safe reading of the question whether daily rental is legal in Egypt is: yes, and it is taxed, so register and ask an accountant before the first season, not after it.
A licensed unit has been inspected for safety, cleanliness and basic services, which is the point of the whole exercise. Ask the host whether the unit has notified the ministry; a straight answer is a good sign either way. What does not change: a hotel apartment in Cairo is still a furnished flat with a kitchen and a front door, booked by the night, and the same apartments that take guests on Airbnb can be booked direct from the host in Egyptian pounds.
Which area of Cairo fits your trip? Read the guide
Mazar Stays matches apartment owners in Cairo with experienced hosts. The host lists the home, takes the bookings, runs the stays and sends you a monthly statement; the arrangements start at 5%, and the page explains each one and what it pays.
See the three owner arrangements
Every home on Mazar Stays is in one of the areas of Cairo we cover. Pick the area and its page lists what is available and what a stay there involves.
Yes. Furnished apartments are let under the Civil Code since Law 4 of 1996, and units that host tourists are licensed by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities under decree 209 of 2025, with a one-year grace announced on 6 July 2026.
Law 164 of 2025 reforms the old frozen rent contracts and schedules their end. A furnished apartment let by the night was never under the old rent laws, so that law does not change its position; the tourism decree does.
If the unit hosts tourists for short stays, yes: decree 209 of 2025 covers it, and from 6 July 2026 owners have one year to notify the ministry and obtain the compliance certificate before the licence becomes a condition of receiving guests.
The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, through an electronic notification on its website and a tourism compliance certificate. The fee for converting a residential property to hotel use was waived by a Prime Minister's decree in July 2026; the licence fee itself was not published in any report read for this guide, so ask the ministry.
The decree names tourist zones and upscale residential communities as eligible locations, and the July 2026 announcement covers independent hotel apartments, not only whole buildings. The compound's own rules on short stays still apply, so check them first.
Yes. Real estate income is taxed under Law 91 of 2005 after a deemed 50% deduction for costs, at progressive rates, and a unit run as a business may be classed as commercial income. The Egyptian Tax Authority decides the classification; register before the first season.
A licensed unit has been inspected for safety and basic services, so ask the host whether the unit has notified the ministry. On Mazar Stays every home names the host who runs it, and the same apartments listed on Airbnb are booked direct in Egyptian pounds.
Ayman Elmiligui, Founder, Mazar Stays
Ayman founded Mazar Stays and has been running short-term rentals in Cairo since 2023.