Before your first guest
Before you let a home in Egypt: permissions, paperwork and practical checks
A furnished apartment is not ready simply because the photographs look good. Before opening dates, bring together the permissions, property condition and everyday arrangements that will let a guest arrive without a last-minute problem.
Establish which permissions apply to your unit
Egypt has a Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities framework for holiday-home accommodation, including Ministerial Decree 209/2025. The correct route depends on the property and operating arrangement. A licence category described for a whole building should not be assumed to apply unchanged to an individual apartment.
Start with the Ministry’s current guidance and confirm the category, documents and steps for your unit before taking bookings. Keep official requirements separate from an agent’s estimate of what an application might involve. This checklist does not confirm that a property or operator is licensed.
Sources: Egypt Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities: holiday-home licensing guidance · Egyptian Gazette, 12 May 2025: Ministerial Decree 209/2025
Ask the compound or building the practical questions
Check your ownership or occupancy documents and obtain the relevant building or compound rules. Where approval is needed, ask who can give it and what form it takes. A neighbour’s arrangement is not reliable evidence of permission for your unit.
Then test the arrival process: who submits guest names, what lead time is needed, whether vehicles need separate approval and what happens after the office closes. Written answers are easier to pass to a cleaner, manager or guest than informal assurances.
Build a short property record
Keep the property address, the authorised owner contact, available permissions and relevant service records together. Add a dated inventory and photographs of the condition at handover. Record which documents are current, which need renewal and which questions are still open.
Avoid sending identity documents into a general group chat. Use the appropriate secure channel when a document is genuinely required, and agree who should have access. Guest information needs a clear purpose and handling process too.
Walk through the stay as a guest would
Try the route from the entrance to the apartment, including lifts, lighting and locks. Test the air conditioning, hot water and internet under normal use. Identify who will respond if a guest cannot get in or an essential service fails. These practical checks complement the applicable safety requirements; they do not replace professional inspections or official approval.
Explain any relevant limitations accurately in the listing. Discovering a known access restriction after a late flight creates an avoidable problem for both the guest and the owner.
Agree responsibilities before handing over keys
Write down who arranges cleaning, checks the finished work, replaces consumables and approves repairs. Confirm the spending process and the contact route for urgent problems. If different people cover different tasks, make the handovers explicit.
Keep an owner-use calendar and a realistic window for maintenance. Opening every date before these arrangements are settled makes it harder to deal with a missing document or an unfinished repair.
- Permissions confirmed for the intended use.
- Access tested and the arrival contact identified.
- Cleaning, maintenance and approval responsibilities recorded.
- Outstanding work completed before the affected dates open.
A common question
Does compound approval replace a tourism licence?
Do not assume it does. Building or compound permission and the applicable public licensing requirements are separate matters to verify for the property.