HLP

An improvement fee is imposed on land owners whose properties, whether they are built or not, benefit from work carried by public authorities  The fee is collected by the local administrative unit.

The Directorate of Housing and Reconstruction of the Ministry of Local Administration and Services under the Syrian Salvation Government (SSG) in Idlib announced earlier this month a competition to plan and design two youth housing projects. The competition opened on November 12 to those interested in urban planning, including companies and architectural engineers, to provide planning and design studies for the North and South Youth Housing projects.

People whose homes were damaged nine months ago in the devastating February 6 earthquake are still struggling to secure other housing amidst delays in implementing government housing projects. The earthquake caused the complete collapse of 53 buildings in the city of Aleppo, along with cracks and partial collapses in hundreds of other buildings. Over the past months, the governorate of Aleppo has worked on demolishing hundreds of buildings at risk of collapse.

Former Lattakia Governor Major General Ibrahim Khader Al-Salem was arrested under a warrant issued on October 18, by the Ministry of Justice’s Lattakia Court and placed in the governorate’s Al-Basseh prison. Out of 14 officials wanted for investigation in the same cases, 10 were arrested and 4 went into hiding. 

The Syrian Arab Code Committee in the Syrian Engineers’ Syndicate issued its recommendations in recent days regarding the development of a code for constructing earthquake-resistant concrete buildings. This was based on a study of the causes and consequences of the earthquake on February 6, 2023.

On October 31, the Ministry of Justice issued Circular No. 17 instructing all judges in relevant courts to specify in their judicial rulings the nature of sold properties and determine whether the real estate right is a property ownership or a “furoogh” for a shop, or if it is a non-commercial lease.

The past two months of aerial and artillery bombing on Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham controlled Idlib by regime forces and the Russian air force has resulted in the displacement of thousands of residents, especially from the city of Idlib. Nevertheless, the prices of house rentals in the city have not decreased, and obtaining housing there remains a difficult task, exclusively managed by private real estate offices.

The judiciary’s acquittal of several government employees accused of involvement in the illicit construction that led to the collapse in September 2022 of a building in the Fardous District in Aleppo killing 14 people, mostly from the Madbess and Madrati families, has led to a local outcry.

In a legal precedent, the Council of Ministers issued two sets of executive instructions on October 15 for a single law, Investment Law No. 2 of 2023. These regulations were issued through two separate decisions bearing the numbers 1575 and 1576.

The Damascus governorate announced on Monday the collapse of parts of a building in an informal settlement in the Tadhamon district south of Damascus leading to one fatality and 14 injuries. The building, consisting of several floors, three of which are inhabited, had cracks due to the damages done by war, although its owner had undertaken repairs, according to City FM radio. 

Title: Restoration Protocol In Conflict Zones “Practical Insights From The Old City Of Aleppo” Editor: Ayman Yaghi Published by: Cologne Institute Of Conservation Science Date: 2017 Link: Here.

As the conflict enters its fifth year, the fate of the country’s destroyed cities has become the subject of international discussion. Aleppo, the country’s second city, is reported to have seen the blunt of the damage, with large areas of the city either damaged or destroyed. The Old City of Aleppo, which is 5,000 years old and has earned the city its title as one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, is the frontline of the battle between Syrian government and opposition forces.

The Council of Ministers has issued executive instructions for Law No. 2 of 2023, which amends Investment Law No. 18 of 2021. The executive instructions were issued by two resolutions of the Council of Ministers on October 15, bearing the numbers 1575 and 1576. It is not clear why two separate resolutions for the executive instructions were issued, as there is no legal justification for having more than one set of executive instructions for a single law. This could lead to further complications in their implementation, especially since Resolution No. 1576 repeats some of the provisions of Resolution No. 1575.

In early October, the Council of Ministers approved a legislative bill to establish a public authority with legal status and financial and administrative independence to protect, manage and optimally invest state properties to generate higher financial returns. This move is in response to the administrative reform program for the organisational structures of public entities in the state and is a part of implementing the decisions of the Committee for Organisational Structures at the Ministry of Administrative Development.

The Syrian Salvation Government, affiliated with the hardline Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, is working to recover public properties (agricultural lands or buildings) that have been taken over by individuals within its areas of control in northwest Syria.

On November 5, the semi-official newspaper Al-Watan published a post stating that a legal solution had been reached to halt the demolition of the BigFive Mall in Damascus. As a result, the mall will become the property of the Damascus Governorate. The newspaper indicated that when the area's zoning plan is implemented in five years, demolition and removal work will be carried out on the mall, which was built without a licence on public property.

The prices of construction materials continue to rise in both the official and black markets in areas controlled by the Damascus government, leading to a steady increase in property market prices. However, the decrease in demand is pushing the market towards stagnation. 

After a 13-year hiatus, a private company resumed construction work in October 2023 on a hotel project located in the Kafr Soussa district near the Council of Ministers building in Damascus. Notably, the work resumed despite existing court rulings in favor of the local residents against the construction company for infringing on their easement rights.

In recent days, the Ministry of State for the Development of the Southern Region has held workshops in the governorates affected by the February 6, 2023 earthquake, with representatives from various institutions, government agencies, chambers of commerce, industry, tourism and operations rooms in those governorates in attendance. The workshops discussed the stages of implementing the "National Action Plan for Dealing with the Earthquake's Repercussions: People First," which was established by the Council of Ministers on February 25.

The General Authority for Administration and Development of Al-Ghab, in cooperation with the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, has completed the rehabilitation and maintenance of a section of a main irrigation canal that waters agricultural lands, some of which are owned by individuals forcibly displaced from the area. The lands were previously listed for public auction by the Hama governorate for investment purposes.