How much notice must a landlord give in Egypt?

It depends on the property and the rent period. Article 563 of the Egyptian Civil Code (Law No. 131 of 1948) requires three months for agricultural or fallow land where the rent period is six months or more, two months for houses, shops, offices, stores, factories and warehouses where the rent period is four months or more, and one month for dwellings, furnished rooms and anything else where the rent period is two months or more, with a half-period rule for shorter rent periods.

Is a notice to quit needed when a fixed-term lease expires in Egypt?

No. Article 598 of the Egyptian Civil Code provides that the lease ends on the expiry of the period specified in the contract without any need for a notice to quit. Article 599 adds that if the tenant stays on with the landlord's knowledge and without objection, the lease is treated as renewed on its original terms for an unspecified period.

How does a landlord evict an old-rent tenant in Egypt after the 2025 reform?

Article 7 of Law No. 164 of 2025 obliges the tenant to vacate at the end of the period fixed in Article 2, and also where the place has been left closed for more than a year without justification or the tenant is proved to own another unit usable for the same purpose. Where he refuses, the owner may apply to the judge of urgent matters at the court in whose district the property lies for an order removing him, and the tenant's substantive action does not suspend that order.

Eviction Notice in Egypt

The Egyptian notice to quit is a Civil Code instrument with fixed lead times tied to the rent period, and it is not needed at all where the lease has a fixed term, because such a lease ends on expiry without any notice. Where a tenancy caught by Law No. 164 of 2025 refuses to vacate at the end of its statutory period, the owner does not start an ordinary action: the law routes him to the judge of urgent matters at the court in whose district the property lies for an order removing the occupier, and a substantive action by the tenant does not suspend that order.

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Governing law

Ending a lease and recovering possession are governed by Articles 563 and 590 and Articles 598 to 605 of the Egyptian Civil Code (Law No. 131 of 1948). For tenancies caught by the old rent laws, the vacating obligation and the summary route are set out in Article 7 of Law No. 164 of 2025.

Egyptian Civil Code (Law No. 131 of 1948), Arts. 563 and 598 to 605 (Arabic text via WIPO Lex, consolidated to Law No. 55 of 1970)

What a eviction notice has to contain in Egypt

For dwellings, furnished rooms and anything not otherwise listed, where the period fixed for paying the rent is two months or more the notice to quit must be given one month before the period ends, and where it is shorter the notice must be given before its last half begins.
Egyptian Civil Code (Law No. 131 of 1948), Art. 563(c)
For houses, shops, offices, stores, factories and warehouses, where the rent period is four months or more the notice must be given two months before it ends, and for agricultural and fallow land with a rent period of six months or more the notice must be given three months before it ends.
Egyptian Civil Code (Law No. 131 of 1948), Art. 563(a) and (b)
A lease ends on the expiry of the term specified in the contract without any need for a notice to quit.
Egyptian Civil Code (Law No. 131 of 1948), Art. 598
The tenant must return the leased property when the lease ends, and if he keeps it without right he must pay the landlord compensation assessed by reference to the rental value of the property and the harm suffered by the landlord.
Egyptian Civil Code (Law No. 131 of 1948), Art. 590
For premises caught by Law No. 164 of 2025 the tenant must vacate at the end of the statutory period, and also where the premises are proved to have been left closed for more than a year without justification or where the tenant is proved to own another unit usable for the same purpose. If he refuses, the owner may ask the judge of urgent matters at the court in whose district the property lies for an order removing him.
Law No. 164 of 2025, Art. 7 (Official Gazette No. 31 (bis), 4 August 2025, Arabic, published by the Ministry of Justice)

What catches drafters out

Where a notice to quit has been served and the tenant nonetheless carries on using the property after the lease ends, the lease is not presumed to have been renewed unless the contrary is proved, which is the opposite of the position where no notice was served.
Egyptian Civil Code (Law No. 131 of 1948), Arts. 599 and 600
A person who acquires the property and against whom the lease is not enforceable still cannot compel the tenant to vacate except after serving a notice to quit within the Article 563 periods, and where the notice is served before the lease expires he must pay the tenant compensation, which the tenant need not vacate before receiving or being secured for.
Egyptian Civil Code (Law No. 131 of 1948), Art. 605
Under Law No. 164 of 2025 the tenant may still bring a substantive action before the competent court by the ordinary procedure, but bringing it does not suspend the order of the judge of urgent matters.
Law No. 164 of 2025, Art. 7