Egyptian Actress Najla Badr Reflects on Impact of New Rent Law, Shares Personal Loss of Childhood Home
Cairo, Egypt – August 9, 2025 – Following President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s ratification of amendments to Egypt’s decades-old rent control law yesterday, acclaimed actress Najla Badr has publicly shared a deeply personal account of her experience with the previous legislation and the emotional toll of relinquishing her family home. Badr’s poignant Facebook post, published earlier today, has resonated with many Egyptians grappling with the implications of the new law and the memories tied to their own residences.
The amended law, initially approved by the Egyptian parliament in july, aims to balance the rights of landlords and tenants, addressing a system widely criticized for discouraging property investment and maintenance due to severely restricted rent increases. While details of the new law include provisions for phased rent adjustments and mechanisms for eviction, it has sparked debate regarding its potential impact on long-term tenants, especially those with limited financial resources.
Badr’s narrative offers a unique perspective, focusing not on financial hardship, but on the irreplaceable emotional weight of a home. In her post, the actress detailed how she continued to live in the family residence in the Dokki neighborhood of Cairo for eight years after the passing of her parents. She described the difficulty of ultimately leaving the property, which she inherited, after the building’s owner requested she vacate.
“The house is not just walls and furniture, the house is memories, life, childhood, sounds and smells,” Badr wrote. She poignantly described the house transforming into a “silent, cold, frightening, dark” space in her absence, devoid of the family life it onc held.
Badr emphasized that clinging to the physical structure ultimately created new painful memories, overshadowing the cherished ones. She acknowledged the necessity of allowing the property to return to its owner and the potential for new families to create their own histories within its walls.
“The house is neither my property nor the owners of memories, and the memories are my property and I am not the king of the walls or the wallโฆ The walls are an abyss and the body is perish,” she concluded.The actress’s reflections offer a powerful commentary on the intangible value of home and the complex emotions surrounding displacement, even when legally and financially sound. As Egypt navigates the changes brought about by the new rent law, Badr’s story serves as a reminder of the human cost inherent in such transitions and the enduring power of memory.