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Aleppo City Demolishes Quake-Damaged Building Without Offering Alternative Housing

09-04-2024/in HLP, News /by Rand Shamaa

A work crew of the Aleppo City Council demolished in February a dilapidated building in an informal settlement within the Ferdous neighbourhood in the eastern part of the city. It was demolished due to the building’s dangerous condition and the potential for it to collapse at any moment, following significant damage it sustained during the earthquake on February 6, 2023.

The Public Safety Committee of the City Council, in a report issued towards the end of 2023 classified the building as cracked and in need of foundation repairs, but did not recommend evacuating the residents. The committee informed the residents of the building’s danger, but did not advise them to evacuate, according to a correspondent for The Syria Report in the area. In early February 2024, several residents approached the City Council after they visually observed a significant increase in cracks and fissures, particularly in the columns. Subsequently, the Public Safety Committee inspected the building again and decided to evacuate it immediately after detecting cracks in the building’s structure and a subsidence in one of its main columns.

The building, unlicensed, was constructed on a private plot of land within an unzoned area classified for agricultural use where construction is prohibited. Consequently, the entire property is not registered in the Land Record. The land ownership document is a court judgement, and the apartment ownership documents are notarised sales contracts.

The building, consisting of six floors and constructed before the year 2000, designated the ground floor for commercial shops, and five residential floors housing a total of 15 apartments, of which only five were inhabited. Prior to evacuation, these five apartments were occupied by three displaced families renting, and two families owning their apartments. The remaining apartments, most in need of rehabilitation and lacking doors and windows, were unoccupied, with their owners forcibly displaced to opposition areas in northwest Syria.

A correspondent for The Syria Report stated that the city council forced the residents to evacuate the building within a few hours following the issuance of the second public safety committee report in February 2024. The report had warned the residents of the necessity to leave due to the danger of remaining in the building and the need for its demolition. However, the residents resisted leaving the building and refused to evacuate before receiving a promise from the city council to secure alternative housing for them or to include their names on the lists issued by the Aleppo governorate for those eligible for support from the National Fund for Earthquake Victims, established by Legislative Decree No. 7 of 2023.

To resolve the standoff, the council enlisted a patrol from the law enforcement forces to evacuate the residents. After being evicted, the residents were forced to displace and search for affordable housing for rent in the informal Karm Homad neighbourhood nearby. Within hours after the evacuation, a city council workshop demolished the building using heavy machinery, including bulldozers and trucks, after the neighbouring buildings were evacuated as a precaution. The head of the council, Maad Madlaji, oversaw the evacuation and demolition operations. As with the majority of buildings that were demolished after the earthquake, the rubble from the Ferdous building was transported to the rubble recycling station in Sheikh Said.

It remains unclear why the city council did not inform those residents about the soon-to-be-added “Category C” of those eligible for support from the National Fund for Earthquake Victims. This category includes owners of properties that were demolished after the earthquake, or will be demolished, through decisions from the public safety committees due to the structural unsafety of these properties and the impossibility of reinforcing them. “Category C” is supposed to include owners of licensed properties located in zoned areas, those unlicensed in zoned areas, or those unlicensed in unzoned areas. Categories A and B include owners of buildings that collapsed during the quake of February 2023. This means that the residents of the Ferdous building qualify for support within this category. According to our correspondent, no one from the city council or the governorate has informed the residents about the possibility of being included in this support.

A large part of the Ferdous neighbourhood is an informal area that saw significant expansion during the 1990s. It is characterised by high population and building density, narrow streets, and is inhabited by families from Aleppo and migrants from the rural areas around the city. The area is geographically connected to other informal neighbourhoods like Karm Homad, Al-Saliheen, Al-Marjeh, Al-Maadi, Jisr Al-Haj, and Al-Mashhad.

Between 2012 and 2016, the armed opposition controlled the neighbourhood and the wider eastern Aleppo. As a result, the area was subjected to intense shelling, aerial bombings with barrel bombs dropped from helicopters, and missiles from warplanes. This caused direct visible damage to homes and also indirect damage to buildings in the informal areas, which already suffered from weak reinforcement and support, amidst the absence of engineering studies for building, soil, and foundations.

In 2016, regime forces regained control of the Ferdous neighbourhood and all of eastern Aleppo, leading to the forced displacement of most of its inhabitants. Afterwards, the Baqir Brigade and other Shiite factions affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard took control of Ferdous. Since 2016, many residents of the Ferdous neighbourhood have returned to their homes, but extensive security detention campaigns carried out by the Baqir Brigade targeted anyone suspected of opposing the regime among the returnees, prompting them to leave again between 2017 and 2018 to opposition-controlled areas in the northwest or the northeast where the Syrian Democratic Forces hold power. A significant number of these people sold their homes in Ferdous at low prices.

The Ferdous district has experienced successive building collapses since 2016, the most recent of which occurred on September 7, 2022, when a five-storey building collapsed, killing 13 people, including women and children from two families.

SSG Reduces and Cancels Some Real Estate Fees

09-04-2024/in HLP, News /by Rand Shamaa

The presidency of the newly formed Syrian Salvation Government (SSG), headed by its new president Mohammed Al-Bashir, issued Decision No. 37 on March 6, which included reductions and exemptions from various real estate fees in areas controlled by Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) in Idlib. The SSG classified this decision as part of a series of reform decisions that will be issued successively to reduce taxes, stimulate construction activity, and facilitate its procedures, which will create more job opportunities.

Decision No. 37 was based on a statement of the Syrian General Conference in September 2017, that led to the formation of the first Salvation Government. The decision also drew on Decree No. 1 of 2024 from the Shura Council. The Shura Council, acting as a parliament, includes dignitaries and notables from various areas of Idlib appointed in 2019, without elections. The council recently formed a Supreme Electoral Committee to establish an electoral law and elect a new Shura Council. Decision No. 37 also referred to what it described as the “directives of the liberated area’s leadership,” referring to HTS.

Article 1 of Decision No. 37 included the cancellation of all financial fees on residential buildings with an area of less than 50 square metres. These fees were previously USD 0.50 per square metre, collected annually. The decision applies to all existing buildings and those to be constructed after its issuance. Additionally, Article 1 exempts these buildings from the requirement to submit architectural plans, including existing buildings in the process of being licensed and regularised, as well as buildings to be constructed after the decision’s issuance.

Mohammed Ghazal, the Director of Technical Services at the Ministry of Local Administration and Services from the SSG, told The Syria Report‘s correspondent that the cancellation of financial fees and the exemption from preparing architectural plans only apply to non-storeyed buildings with small areas, where the absence of an architectural plan does not affect their structural integrity or pose a risk to their inhabitants. Often, homes with small areas (less than 50 square metres) are those residential blocks that people have increasingly relied on as a more sustainable alternative to tents. These blocks typically consist of two rooms and utilities, with mud walls, and roofs made of cement or insulation.

Architectural plans are still required for licensing any building that exceeds 50 square metres, while buildings consisting of four floors or more must also undergo structural analysis according to the building code and earthquake annex, Mr Ghazal pointed out.

Article 2 included a 75 percent reduction in the financial, technical, and engineering fees collected by the Ministry of Local Administration and Services for all buildings, whether residential, commercial, or service-oriented. The financial and technical fees are fixed charges levied by the ministry for administrative and service works, while engineering fees are charged to pay for engineering procedures such as inspections and plan studies. These fees include licensing fees, settlement fees, and penalties. Settlement fees apply to unlicensed buildings constructed in accordance with the building code, erected on zoned areas. Owners of such buildings can settle their status and obtain a licence according to the current state of the building. Penalty fees apply to buildings that do not comply with the building code in terms of the number of floors, height, facade system, and land area.

Article 3 of the decision reduces by 90 percent the value of the improvement fee levied on properties for licence transactions, settlements, violations, and audits. An improvement fee is imposed on built and unbuilt properties that experience improvement, i.e., an increase in their value, as a result of public utility works. The administrative unit collects this fee within its administrative boundaries. The improvement fee is charged on properties located in areas undergoing zoning, or when a road is constructed nearby or a park is created, which leads to an increase in the property’s value. This fee is paid once with the first improvement and is not imposed for subsequent improvements. Still, the connection between licence transactions, settlements, violations, audits, and the improvement fee is not clear.

Article 4 includes the cancellation of fixed financial fees related to licence transactions and settlements. These are the fees imposed on the execution of licensed construction works, including the service fee due for each concrete pouring permission, which allows the contractor or building owner to start the concrete pouring process after verifying that the reinforcement works meet the required technical conditions. Additionally, the article cancels fees for technical inspections and the monitoring of the implementation of architectural plans, as well as the works fee imposed on works on public roads using construction materials and machinery.

Article 5 stipulates the settlement of buildings constructed before March 1, and treating them as per the current situation. This means licensing the non-compliant buildings constructed before March 1, according to the building code of each area, and in accordance with the zoning plans that the ministry is issuing one after the other. This does not include the removal or demolition of these buildings, but an engineering inspection is conducted on their structural integrity following the same procedures for licensing new buildings.

The package of exemptions and reductions included in Decision No. 37 will effectively reduce the resources of the SSG Ministry of Local Administration and Services collected by the financial department within the ministry, as well as those collected by the associated local councils. Mohammed Ghazal clarified that this decrease in resources will reduce the ministry’s ability to execute some existing projects. However, it will not halt the ministry’s operations entirely, which will continue to oversee other service projects, such as road construction and implementation.

The SSG Ministry of Local Administration also issued Decision No. 89 on March 6, which allows construction within the protection areas of the zoning plans, with the exception of Idlib city. The protection area of a zoning plan separates the zoned areas from the unzoned ones. Parts of the protection area are usually zoned during the expansion of the zoning plan in a routine manner. Municipalities and the executive office prohibit the construction of residential or commercial buildings in the protection areas. The ministry has required anyone wishing to build in these protection areas to comply with the building code system specific to agricultural, rocky, or mountainous areas, depending on the type of land.

Explained: Permits for Reinforcement and Partial Reconstruction in Damascus

23-05-2023/in Analysis & Features, HLP /by Rand Shamaa

The Damascus governorate’s Directorate of Planning and Urbanisation is in charge of granting special permits for reinforcement and partial reconstruction of licensed constructed buildings within zoned areas of the capital. These permits may be used to renovate, re-clad, modernise or rectify prior construction errors in buildings. However, these permits cannot be granted for buildings in the Old City of Damascus, where prior approval from the Department of Antiquities is required.

For example, the permits are granted in the following cases: when the structure of a building is damaged due to additional unstudied loads, such as from installing other features on external surfaces. This can also include extra weight from water cisterns and fuel tanks for heating and natural factors such as rainwater or sewage leakage. In these and other cases, when re-fixing the home, the engineer may decide to reinforce any columns and build metal structural casings around them. Property owners must obtain a reinforcement or partial reconstruction permit for this.

After the February 06 earthquake, there has been an increased demand for these permits due to buildings across Damascus that partially collapsed or were damaged. However, the Damascus governorate required residents of some of these buildings to reinforce them at their own expense, especially in the New Al-Sham Suburb project area.

Applicants must submit the following documents to obtain a reinforcement or partial reconstruction permit:

A permit request obtained from the Licensing Department office;
A real estate certificate issued by the Directorate of Cadastral Affairs, including the property’s subdivision number, location on the city zoning map, building specifications and the names of the owner or joint ownership shares;
A document showing the ifraz, or subdivision, of the property to be reinforced, issued by the Directorate of Cadastral Affairs. This is a technical plan showing the property’s shape and boundaries.;
A document showing the zoning plan issued by the Damascus governorate and specifying the property’s location within that plan;
A current survey displaying the complete property descriptions, dimensions and any modifications to the property, including previous violations of the construction code. This survey is to be issued by an architect or civil engineer.;
A structural plan detailing how the building was constructed, including any columns, foundations and walls, as well as the load on each of these elements. A structural engineer issues this plan.;
Detailed plans, including floorplans, showing the quantity of the materials needed for reinforcement and reconstruction. These plans are to be prepared by a consulting structural engineer licensed by the Engineers’ Syndicate. They must include tables listing the quantities of materials for the reinforcement.;
A police report, issued by the police station responsible for the area in which the property is located. This report should indicate that a police patrol consisting of a head officer and several personnel visited the property’s location and inspected it. The report should also include the names of the patrol members, their ranks, residents’ names, personal details and the names of any eyewitnesses. Also specified are the property details, the patrol’s observations about the general condition of the property and the locations of any partial or total collapses on some parts of the property. Finally, this report should include any complaints from neighbours and residents, if any.;
A written promise from the applicant that they will not take advantage of the permit to build unlicensed construction;
Consent from all the owners or permission from the judiciary.

There are three cases in which reconstruction is not allowed and where reinforcement of at-risk parts of the property is permitted:

If the property is within an approved plan, such as a park or road;
If the property has been expropriated. If this is the case, then the opinion of the expropriation office is required. This is considered a form of pressure by the governorate on owners of expropriated real estate to vacate their properties and demolish them for the benefit of the expropriating party;
If the property is located within areas protected for agriculture.

Despite the importance of reinforcement, especially for buildings over five decades old, it is clear from the above conditions that the Damascus governorate has strict requirements for granting reinforcement and partial reconstruction permits. This strictness on the governorate’s part could lead to delays in implementing regular maintenance of buildings, especially those with multiple storeys, and can prolong bureaucratic procedures–which becomes an issue if there are unexpected natural disasters like earthquakes. On the other hand, undertaking reinforcement promptly can help prevent buildings from collapsing and protect residents.

Meanwhile, reinforcement permits are often used for unlicensed construction, such as putting water tanks on rooftops, installing elevators or building protrusions. Without any effective monitoring mechanism, the written promise not to use these permits for such construction is meaningless. Damascus municipalities often turn a blind eye to unlicensed construction when the violators have a reinforcement permit. For example, one building owner used their permit to dig and construct a basement for their building in a wealthy neighbourhood of the capital. Instead of reinforcing the building as the permit called for, this owner put the entire building at risk of future collapse.

Further, the governorate’s requirement that all the property’s owners consent to the permit can delay the issuance of permits, thereby exposing buildings to structural risk. Notably, a demolition permit requires the consent of just three-quarters of the property owners, which can deprive the remaining one-quarter of the owners of their rights even if the demolished building was not at risk of collapse.

In cases of reinforcement, the consent of all the property owners is required, even if they do not reside in the building. This means non-resident owners can object to the reinforcement work for financial reasons unrelated to any risks that threaten the building’s structural safety or the lives of its residents. In such cases, it is rare to turn to the judiciary because of the lengthy litigation periods required, delayed decisions and the possibility of appeal. Residents, therefore, usually settle these issues directly with the objecting party, often through illegal financial agreements, until that party agrees to the reinforcement.

For example, in one wealthy Damascus neighbourhood, a property owner wanted to reinforce their commercial property, which occupied the ground floor of a multi-storey residential building. When he tried to obtain written consent from the building occupants so that he could get the reinforcement permit, one of them objected. This person only ended up agreeing to the reinforcement work after the permit applicant promised to re-clad their apartment for free.