يتناول الدكتور المهندس، سیف الدین أحمد فرج، خبير الاقتصاد العمراني والتقييم العقاري، في مقالات أسبوعية على موقع «البورصة» قضايا السوق العقاري المصري، ومنها حساب مساحة الوحدة العقارية، مؤكدًا أن التعامل بالمساحة الصافية للوحدة العقارية يُعد أفضل طريقة للتعامل بين المطور والمشتري.
There are some countries that use the total area of real estate units, including loading ratios, which include the spaces of stairs, elevators, internal and external skylights loaded in units of the whole property. It is a bad way to deal with; it exhausts the buyers of the units and makes them lose their trust.
Some countries use the net area as a benchmark for measuring real estate. However, from my point of view, the best way to compare various kinds of real estate is to use the total area instead of the net area because the total area is the result of the net area plus the loading ratios that differ from one property to another in the calculation.
Although some firms calculate loading ratios differently––some include only stairwells or elevators in their loading ratios––loading ratios are meant to encompass only the space of stairs, elevators, and internal and external skylights.
In Egypt, the construction industry is one of the most important economic sectors and a vital factor in achieving sustainable development because of its key role in supplying residential complexes for the citizens.
The real estate market is always developing, and we are seeing many projects announced daily by developers.
There may be some confusion about the units area calculation method used in selling residential units. It has used to that the loading ratios must not exceed 10%-15%, but unfortunately, it recently cleared that it increased to 30%-40%. Some may claim that using the net area leads to an increase in the prices declared. This is not true, where transparency, disclosure and confidence will lead to the best results and returns.
The Egyptian real estate market has many problems and defects, but I think the most important problem is that of calculating the area of real estate units (the net area) with all its related implications.
In my opinion, the discussion of loading areas on units is one of the best issues that stand as a priority in the real estate market development area, where the developer deals with the contractor based on net area, not based on total prices. Listing at first this issue as a top priority issue to be discussed by all concerned parties to improve investor trust in the real estate market and make it more attractive for investment, especially since this issue has become noticeably clear after many investors complained about paying prices for units according to their total area while they received less than they actually paid for.
I personally believe that there must be a specific formula to calculate loading areas on each unit so that there will be certainty among investors, which will help them make proper decisions.
The way that the developer calculates the unit area is one of the biggest problems that face any customer who wants to buy an apartment, as he finds an advertisement showing a beautiful image of an apartment with an area of 200 square meters, but when he asks for a copy of the contract, he finds that its actual area is only 160 square meters.
This problem is not limited to one developer or a specific region but includes all developers and projects across Egypt.
Therefore, among the feasible proposals that because the Consumer Protection Agency, which is now responsible for the Egyptian real estate market, it not sufficient alone to solve the current issues, and it also has many problems with many consumption bodies, the state must set up a specialized agency for addressing the real estate market issues between buyer and developer.
However, the Egyptian real estate market needs an agency and institutions to protect the consumer specialized in the real estate market. The problems of the Egyptian real estate market are inflamed and manifold. Therefore, in the following articles, we will try to address these problems by monitoring them and proposing alternative solutions.