Empty Cairo homes beyond reach of Egypt’s poor

Ahmad and Mohammad are both married with children but still live with their mother, unable to afford one of the hundreds of thousands of homes sitting empty in Egypt’s capital. A construction boom has seen new housing developments mushroom around Cairo but they are out of reach for many, including the two brothers in their 30s.

Instead they share a three-bedroom apartment with their wives, three children, another brother and their mother, for a combined rent of around $10 a month.

Away from their rubbish-strewn neighborhood with its tenements and narrow alleys, empty and unfinished buildings flank the ring road that circles the vast metropolis.

Outside the city, gated compounds of villas, lush gardens and golf courses in the desert await those with fortunes.