Reconstruction Boom in Southern Idlib Countryside Leads to a Hike in Construction Wages

A growing number of returnees to the southern countryside of Idlib governorate are funding the restoration and repair works at their homes, fuelling a wave of construction that has led to a sharp rise in demand for labour and a hike of construction worker’s wages.

According to the Directorate of Social Affairs and Statistics in Idlib Governorate, more than 23,000 families (roughly 100,000 people) have returned to towns and villages in southern Idlib since the fall of the regime, according to the Directorate of Social Affairs and Statistics in Idlib Governorate.

Around 283,911 people have voluntarily returned from Turkey through the Bab Al-Hawa border crossing to Syria, most of them displaced from areas in Idlib, Aleppo, and Hama, according to Mustafa Al-Hallaq, Director of Public Relations at the crossing. Return rates remain uneven, with most concentrated in less damaged villages such as Kafr Aweed and Sfuhun west of Maarat Al-Numan, while limited in heavily destroyed areas like Maarat Harma, Sheikh Mustafa, Haas, Kafruma, and Kafr Nubl.

The growing number of returnees and their urgent need to repair their homes have greatly increased demand for labour across various trades. Engineer Ibrahim Al-Ismail, head of the Project Management Unit at the Directorate of Local Administration and Environment in Idlib, told The Syria Report that approximately 250,000 homes are partially or completely damaged. This surge in demand has attracted construction teams and workers from Hama, more than 80 kilometres away, to participate in restoration and debris removal. Because these teams travel long distances for temporary jobs, they charge higher daily rates (around USD 15) than their counterparts in northern Syria (around USD 7).

Similarly, the cost of installing one square metre of ceramic tiles has increased to USD 3, compared to just USD 2 in the north – a pattern seen across all other crafts and trades. Most workshops operate under a “lump-sum” system, agreeing on a fixed total payment for a task rather than a daily wage. Nevertheless, there is no official intervention to regulate or standardise wages, resulting in wide variations between areas.

Construction workshops in southern Idlib’s countryside have also attracted skilled workers and technicians from other provinces, particularly from rural Hama. Teams specialised in tiling and concrete, most of them belonging to the Alwaite sect, are active in the region without any reported tensions. Their wages are generally lower than those of workshops arriving from Sunni-majority areas. This wage disparity has created visible competition in the labour market and contributed to the acceleration of reconstruction and repair activities, which have been ongoing at a brisk pace since the beginning of the return movement.

Alongside construction and repair work, the region has seen a rise in topographical surveying and land ownership documentation. Fees for these services have increased from around USD 50 before the fall of the Assad regime to USD 100 today. The Syria Report’s local correspondents also observed a growing interest among families in dividing inherited estates and purchasing land for building and housing, which has led to higher demand in the real estate market and, in some cases, disputes among residents over property boundaries and divisions.

The Directorate of Local Administration and Environment in Idlib is currently assessing the state of infrastructure in towns and villages that were, until recently, still under the control of the Assad regime. There, the directorate is coordinating with the Idlib’s Humanitarian Affairs Office to direct organisational efforts toward regional priorities. The Salvation Government, affiliated with Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, had established the Humanitarian Affairs Office (HAC) in Idlib in 2022. After the Assad regime’s fall, the experience was expanded, and the office became part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the transitional government.

According to engineer Ibrahim Al-Ismail, completed projects so far include the rehabilitation of sewage networks in Saraqib, Khan Sheikhoun, Al-Tah, Deir Al-Sharqi, Heish, and Maarat Al-Numan, as well as replacing around 14,000 stolen manhole covers – part of which was secured through aid organisations and the governorate. Additional sewage projects were carried out in the towns of Maar Shamarin, Talmenes, Balyoun, and Kafr Amim. More than 4,000 homes have been restored with support from humanitarian organisations, and the markets of Khan Sheikhoun and Saraqib have been rehabilitated by the organisations IYD and Ataa.

IYD (the International Humanitarian Relief Association), founded in 2013 in Turkey, operates in food security, health, water, sanitation, hygiene, shelter, and protection across opposition areas. Ataa, also founded in Turkey in 2013, works in Syria in education, health, and other humanitarian fields.

Local authorities have also reopened roads blocked by rubble and removed earthen barriers in cooperation with Civil Defence, which is currently carrying out a debris-removal project in the southern countryside’s towns.

In the energy sector, solar-powered street lighting projects have been implemented in Maarat Al-Numan, Saraqib, Khan Sheikhoun, and several villages including Ifes. Current efforts focus on rehabilitating essential infrastructure and restoring life to areas recently wrested from the Assad regime, alongside ongoing assessments of needs in road, sanitation, and public-service sectors.