Analysis & Features

An improvement fee is imposed on land owners whose properties, whether they are built or not, benefit from work carried by public authorities  The fee is collected by the local administrative unit. The Financial Law of Administrative Units (Law No. 37 of 2021) regulates how administrative units may collect certain fees.

The Ministry of Justice has instructed all judges in relevant courts to specify in their judicial rulings the nature of sold properties and the type of real estate.

The past two months of aerial and artillery bombing on Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham-controlled Idlib by regime forces and the Russian Air Force have resulted in the displacement of thousands of residents, especially from the city of Idlib. Nevertheless, the prices of house rentals in the city have not decreased.

In a legal precedent, the Council of Ministers issued two sets of executive instructions on October 15 for a single law, Investment Law No. 2 of 2023. These regulations were issued through two separate decisions bearing the numbers 1575 and 1576.

The Council of Ministers has issued executive instructions for Law No. 2 of 2023, which amends Investment Law No. 18 of 2021. The executive instructions were issued by two resolutions of the Council of Ministers on October 15, bearing the numbers 1575 and 1576.

The estate inheritance inventory document is the fundamental basis for identifying the names of a deceased person’s heirs, clarifying their degree of kinship and determining their entitled shares of the inheritance.

Syria’s Expropriation Law No. 20 of 1983 stipulates that a property can only be expropriated by a decree issued on the recommendation of the relevant government minister.

Syria’s State Property Law No. 252 of 1959 allows individuals to occupy, rent and invest in the private state properties, which includes both built and unbuilt real estate as well as non-movable proprietary rights owned by the state as an entity.

In 2015, the Syria Trust for Development established the Deyari Company as a single-person limited liability company to execute contracting and tendering work on its behalf.

The residential real estate sector in Syria is grappling with a funding crisis, evident by the lack of financing companies capable of implementing housing projects and selling them to investors or potential homeowners.

Property expropriation is legitimate in Syria but it remains an administrative act that affects individual property rights. According to the law, any administrative authority, when expropriating for public benefit, must pay fair compensation to the owners of expropriated properties. This acts as a safeguard for property rights against uncompensated or free expropriation.

Syria’s Expropriation Law, enacted by Decree No. 20 of 1983, grants certain public entities the authority to deduct the equivalent of one-quarter of the area of a property that is partially expropriated, free of charge and without compensation. The Expropriation Law justifies this measure by arguing that the value of the remaining portion of the property will increase due to the improvements made to the deducted one-quarter.

Under Syrian law, easement rights for public benefit are enabled for various situations such as allowing access to beaches and riverbanks, or facilitating the usage of public pathways, especially military installations.

The expropriation law in Syria addresses real estate property rights, including primary and secondary in rem rights on property.

Al-Haydariyeh is among the largest informal settlements in Aleppo and was declared a real estate development zone in 2011. The area saw widespread devastation during the war, forcing its residents into displacement. And though the Aleppo City Council hoped Al-Haydariyeh real estate development project could serve as a model for reconstruction in other east Aleppo neighbourhoods, the project still needs to be completed. 

Legislative Decree No. 66 of 2012, which established two zoned real estate areas within Damascus governorate as part of the general plan for the capital city, compensated some rights holders with zoning shares in these two areas. This article explains what is meant by “zoning shares” and how people obtain them.

Public benefit is considered the fundamental purpose of expropriation, justifying the sacrifice of individual ownership for the public good.

The Ministry of Agriculture issued procedural rules for collective agricultural cooperation that would impact land and property rights.

The president established a fund to finance a project to facilitate a transition to modern irrigation methods in irrigated agricultural lands. 

The general zoning plan for Aleppo was reissued multiple times in recent years, aiming to receive and study objections as part of the regular mechanism for issuing such plans.