Earthquake Fund Seeks to Control Housing Costs for Affected Residents

At one of its sessions on October 14, the Board of Directors of the National Fund for Earthquake Victims instructed the Ministry of Public Works and Housing to review the costs of constructing housing units for those affected. The review aims to ensure compliance with proper legal and financial procedures.

Chaired by Prime Minister Mohamed Al-Jalali, who also serves as the Fund’s chairman, the session highlighted the need for this review to manage costs and prevent future increases that could burden affected individuals and strain the Fund’s budget, which partially finances housing construction. The board stressed that the support and facilities provided to compensate earthquake victims must not compromise the efficiency, transparency, or accountability of legal, financial, and accounting procedures, as stated on the Prime Minister’s website.

According to the Fund’s intervention strategy, published without a date on its website (the Fund officially began operations on August 1, 2023), two approaches are being used to reconstruct destroyed housing:

1. Owners of licensed buildings destroyed by the earthquake can rebuild their homes on the same site, adhering to specific construction standards. The Fund provides  SYP 160 million per destroyed house. Applications for reconstruction permits must be submitted either individually by the owner or collectively by 75 percent of the co-owners. Financial support is disbursed in two installments: SYP 80 million upon submitting the permit application and another SYP 80 million upon presenting the reconstruction contract. Notably, this support is exclusive to urban homeowners. In rural areas, homeowners receive only SYP 40 million for self-reconstruction, with no explanation provided for this disparity.
2. Government housing projects managed by the General Housing Establishment (GHE). This option caters to affected individuals who owned unlicensed buildings or lived in informal settlements. The Fund allocates SYP 40 million per damaged home to the GHE. Beneficiaries must agree to relinquish ownership of any unlicensed buildings they previously owned in the area.

While there are conflicting figures on the number of beneficiaries of support to rebuild their homes according to the first type, the strategy estimates the initial cost of building one square metre in government housing projects at SYP 2.6 million. Final costs, including infrastructure and engineering studies, are determined after project completion in accordance with Decree No. 26 of 2015, which governs the GHE’s operations and its executive regulations.

The GHE is currently implementing government housing projects for earthquake victims in the Aleppo, Lattakia, and Hama governorates as follows: 

• In Aleppo, towers comprising 120 housing units at a cost of SYP 18.6 billion in Al-Maasaraniyah, and towers with 320 apartments at a cost of SYP 66.6 billion in Al-Haidariyah. Progress at these sites remains unclear, though reports suggest the allocation of 200 units to applicants. Allocation defines unit location and size but does not guarantee readiness or delivery.
• In Lattakia, towers with 240 apartments distributed across Al-Gharaf and Revolution Street in the city of Lattakia, and two towers in the city of Jableh comprising 80 apartments. Apartments in Lattakia city were reportedly ready for incoming residents in August, but no handovers have occurred, with no explanation provided. The total cost of housing projects in Lattakia province stands at SYP 60 billion.
• There is no accurate information available about the status of government housing projects in Hama.