Syria’s Transitional President, Ahmad Al-Sharaa, issued Decree No. 57 on March 8, forming a national committee to rehabilitate infrastructure in heavily damaged areas. The aim is to allow displaced people to return, as well as to close various displacement camps, amid growing criticism directed at the  government due to the deteriorating conditions in the camps and the decline in support from international organisations.

An increasing number of Syrians residing in Lebanon have returned in recent days alongside escalating Israeli bombardment across wide areas of Lebanon, including the southern suburbs of Beirut. Many of the returnees are going back to damaged homes that require renovation work, or buildings that have been completely destroyed and require rebuilding.

The Ministry of Local Administration and Environment is working to amend the Financial Law of Administrative Units No. 37 of 2021 to review the matter of fees and taxes collected by administrative units, including those linked to real estate.

Syria’s draft Transitional Justice Law provides for the establishment of a special Compensation Fund for people harmed by violations committed by the Assad regime. This includes those affected by the loss of or damage to their real estate properties. The fund constitutes one of the core tracks of the National Transitional Justice Commission, at a time when questions relating to its sources of funding, mechanisms of operation, and compensation criteria remain under discussion, alongside a larger bet on linking reparations to legislative reform that would prevent a repeat of the housing, land, and property violations of recent years.

The Hama Endowments Directorate issued Circular No. 913 on December 23, 2025, addressed to investors and tenants of waqf properties used as restaurants and cafés, stipulating the cancellation of all licences previously granted allowing the provision or sale of any beverages or materials that contravene Islamic objectives, under penalty of immediate contract termination. The circular also noted that the directorate will monitor investors’ compliance through specialised committees tasked with inspections and field visits to ensure proper implementation.

Since the city of Raqqa fell out of the control of the Assad regime in 2013, real estate documentation has proceeded along two parallel tracks. The first track was linked to the succession of multiple de facto authorities over the Directorate of Land Registry, and the accompanying suspension of its work, transfer of its documents, and the creation of alternative registers. The second track was represented by the practices adopted by rights holders themselves to preserve their property rights, in the absence of a stable and recognised registration authority.

Homs city has seen rising tensions in recent days following a double murder on November 23 in the town of Zaidal, southeast of Homs city near the Homs–Damascus highway. News of the incident spread widely and was followed by a wave of incitement and accusations against Alawite residents of the city, blaming them for the crime. Amid this charged atmosphere, neighbourhoods with an Alawite presence in the city (particularly Al-Muhajireen and Al-Armen) turned into scenes of extensive attacks that same day, affecting dozens of homes and forcing their residents to flee.

The Damascus Governorate is currently reviewing its urban vision for the Qaboun neighbourhood, albeit without funding or reconstruction offers. The zoning plans proposed for this Damascene neighborhood – which suffered near-total destruction during the conflict – remain unresolved, with no move toward an executive phase. The complex property-rights situation, limited return of residents, weak services, the lack of a comprehensive engineering survey and the lack of housing solutions further complicate any practical path forward.

In late October, the Aleppo City Council launched the first phase of a real estate development project in the Al-Haydariyeh district (the largest informal settlement in eastern Aleppo), presenting it as the opening step in the city’s reconstruction plans. However, the sudden start of demolition works provoked protests and concerns among residents, who demanded clear guarantees for their rights amid the absence of official information about compensation mechanisms or lists of beneficiaries.

The transitional government’s Ministry of Religious Endowments (also known as waqf) is reorganising management of its properties across the country by reviewing old lease contracts and updating appraisal values on 34,000 wafq properties. The ministry has also begun reclaiming several properties that had been held by influential figures during Bashar Al-Assad’s regime, among them the Yalbugha Complex in Damascus, which was in the hands of Wassim Qattan, and the Officers’ Club and a hotel in Aleppo.