Transitional Government Ends Longstanding Lease Contracts to Return Properties

Several ministries within the Transitional Government, most notably the Ministries of Finance and Education, have begun procedures to return properties they have rented for decades to their original owners, without asking for compensation as Law No. 20 of 2015 would have allowed them to request. These properties fall under the principle of compulsory lease extension, which has kept thousands of private properties occupied by public entities since the 1950s and 1960s. This move comes as part of a new government policy aimed at ending old lease contracts and restoring rights to their owners, while temporarily maintaining some properties used as service and educational buildings until suitable alternatives are secured.

The issue of leases subject to compulsory extension is one of the oldest and most complex legal problems in Syria. It originated with Legislative Decree No. 464 of 1949, which established the principle of automatically extending lease contracts in favour of tenants. Later, Decree No. 111 of 1952 reinforced this principle despite its contradiction with the civil law rule that “a contract is the law of the contracting parties.” Subsequently, the Lease Law No. 10 of 2006 differentiated between old and new contracts, subjecting new leases to the will of both parties while keeping previous ones under compulsory extension. In 2015, Law No. 20 allowed property owners to end lease relationships in exchange for compensation to tenants amounting to 40 percent of the property’s value, but it excluded properties rented to public or political entities. This system was extended several times through Law No. 42 of 2017 and Legislative Decree No. 38 of 2020, leaving thousands of private properties occupied by ministries and official institutions until the fall of the Assad regime.

Recently, the Ministry of Finance began returning several properties it had occupied for decades to their original owners after determining they were no longer needed. An official from the Ministry of Finance told The Syria Report that the ministry has invited the owners of these properties to visit and complete the handover procedures, confirming that no compensation will be required from either side. The official added that the ministry is currently reviewing the status of buildings rented under the compulsory extension system that can be relinquished, before meeting with their owners to determine the mechanism and timeline for their return.

The Minister of Finance, in a post on social media last week, announced the ministry would reassess rental fees for properties that remain in use, according to current market values. He confirmed that these measures are consistent with the spirit of the new Constitutional Declaration and the Transitional Government’s policy of “returning rights to their owners.” The minister added that his ministry is pursuing this path “with utmost seriousness and responsibility,” considering the restoration of properties to their owners “an incentive to continue reinforcing justice.”

In the same context, the Ministry of Education has begun studying the status of properties it rents under old contracts subject to compulsory extension, after receiving dozens of requests from owners to reclaim their properties or reassess rental fees. It is coordinating with the Ministry of Justice to determine the appropriate legal framework for handing over properties that will no longer be used. An official in the Buildings Directorate of the Ministry of Education, explained that the ministry is considering releasing around 30 properties rented under the compulsory extension system in Damascus – most of them administrative buildings that can be vacated without affecting the educational process – and returning them to their owners.

However, the ministry faces difficulties returning some properties that have been converted into functioning schools, as doing so requires finding suitable alternatives or constructing new schools. This could delay implementation in certain areas due to the significant shortage of educational buildings available for students. The same source noted that this cautious approach aims to ensure the continuity of the educational process, given that a large portion of school buildings has been damaged in recent years.

Some property owners expressed satisfaction with these long-awaited steps. Abu Moumen, the owner of a property on Baghdad Street rented by the Ministry of Education, told The Syria Report that he immediately contacted the relevant authorities to complete the handover or reassessment procedures. Meanwhile, Samer, the owner of a property in the Midan neighbourhood rented by a government entity, said that previous laws prevented them from demanding the evacuation of their properties or adjusting rental fees, forcing them to accept symbolic payments for properties located in central urban areas. Abu Mohammad, who owns a property rented by the Ministry of Finance, stated that returning these properties to their owners represents an opportunity to revive the economic value of their assets after decades of legal stagnation.

Although no law or official decree has yet been issued obliging ministries to return rented properties, what is currently taking place clearly reflects a government orientation towards ending old lease contracts, pending the establishment of an appropriate legislative framework in the near future. This governmental approach appears to mark the beginning of a new phase in addressing the issue of old leases, which for decades remained subject to successive legal extensions that kept thousands of private properties occupied by ministries and official bodies.

Legal experts estimate that the number of such properties reaches thousands, many of them located in key areas of Damascus and other major cities. These measures are expected to expand over the coming months to include other ministries and agencies, as part of a broader policy to reorganise the occupation of state-owned and rented properties and to end the legacy of compulsory extension, which has long represented one of the clearest manifestations of imbalance between the state and property owners in Syrian real estate legislation.