News

In the 1990s, the owner of a large plot of arid land outside Damascus died and bequeathed his land to his four sons, who shared common ownership of the property. In legal terms, the land was excluded from the town's zoning plan and was classified as agricultural, meaning construction on the plot is unauthorised.

Several houses and other facilities in Jassem, a town in the northwestern part of Daraa governorate, were damaged in recent clashes against pro-Islamic State cells in the area. Afterwards, local armed groups destroyed some of the houses and other facilities that the ISIS fighters have rented.  

Following a two-year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a new group of refugees returned to Syria from neighbouring Lebanon on October 26, as part of what Lebanese authorities called a “voluntary and safe return” plan.

In mid-October, Syria’s Real Estate Bank raised the ceilings for all its real estate loans, including loans used to purchase or renovate properties. The bank also added a new personal loan, as well as a personal loan with a real estate guarantee.  

Plot owners in Marota City are facing considerable difficulties obtaining construction permits and security approvals. Meanwhile, the Damascus governorate is threatening to implement a law allowing it to confiscate those plots and sell them in public auctions if the owners fail to obtain the permits within specific deadlines.

The Aleppo City Council issued a set of decisions in early September. It considered some of the real estate properties it owns to be subjected to the Investment Law No. 106 of 1958 and for public benefit. 

The Aleppo City Council in October issued decision No. 586, renewing the leases of more than 1,000 tenants of shops and other municipally owned properties in the Bahastiya neighbourhood, according to the state-run Tishreen newspaper. Bahastiya is located in Aleppo’s seventh real estate zone. 

The Ministry of Public Works and Housing continues to interfere in housing cooperative societies, from dissolving them to restructuring their administrative councils, prosecuting violators and merging different cooperatives. These actions followed the dismantling of the General Union of Housing Cooperatives, which represented and defended such societies, in 2019.

On October 15, pro-regime media reported that 800 displaced families had returned to Maaret Al-Numan, located in the rural Idlib governorate. A ceremony was reportedly held for their return, attended by state and Baath Party officials. But when the ceremony ended, most returning families left the destroyed city, according to a correspondent for The Syria Report in the area, as extensive damage to homes and infrastructure has rendered Maaret Al-Numan uninhabitable. 

Earlier this month, the government raised the prices of basic imported commodities, putting more financial strain on Syrians who are unable to keep pace with the rising cost of living.

When the various institutions belonging to the Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria expropriate privately owned lands for public benefit, they compensate the original owners only if the latter demands such payments. The lack of laws about expropriation and bodies to regulate the process contribute to this phenomenon.

Under Decision No. 991, issued on October 3, 2022, the Damascus governorate has agreed to grant “permits” for restoring, reinforcing, and rebuilding parts of licensed real estate properties in the Qaboun residential area.

The State Security Department’s General Intelligence recently sent the mukhtar of a town in Rural Damascus a list of names of 70 displaced residents. Although the issuance of the list suggests that the intelligence agency had no objection to their return, it does not necessarily mean that returns will occur anytime soon.

In August, Decree No. 13 of 2022 was issued, granting extensive tax concessions and exemptions within old city centres in the Aleppo, Homs, and Deir-ez-Zor governorates, including the historic souks.

The Damascus governorate’s General Establishment for Drinking Water and Sewage sent a letter to the mukhtar of a town in Rural Damascus stating that the government will expropriate property falling within two real estate zones in the area.

Many returnees to the eastern neighbourhoods of Aleppo city could not recover their homes, which were occupied during their absence by families who had been displaced from the Idlib governorate towns of Kafraya and Al-Fuaa.

Under the pretext of security and military needs, an armed opposition group seized civilian-owned farms and homes in the city of Al-Bab in northern Aleppo in 2017. Five years later, the original owners have been unable to recover their properties. 

Syria’s Ministry of Public Works and Housing recently amended a decree related to the monthly instalments for social housing by subscribers or those who have been allotted such housing. 

The Rural Damascus governorate has been selectively demolishing property in Al-Shabreh, an area south of Hteitet Al-Turkman, East Ghouta.

In an apparent violation of women's housing, land, and property rights, some Syrian women are compelled to relinquish their properties after experiencing psychological and physical threats.