Damascus- The phenomenon of high apartment rental prices has become familiar and recurring in cities and areas visited by people displaced from the war, as a result of the increasing demand for residential apartments and the decrease in their supply, which has caused a housing crisis that burdens both the displaced and residents, according to observers.
This has become the situation of cities and towns in Homs, Damascus, its countryside, and a number of areas controlled by the Syrian regime, after the wave of Lebanese displacement and the reverse displacement of thousands of Syrian families to those areas, against the backdrop of the ongoing Israeli aggression against Lebanon for two weeks.
At a time when these areas are witnessing aggravating and complex service, economic, and humanitarian crises, a crisis of high apartment rents has been added to them, increasing the suffering of their residents.
Added suffering
“Above death…the narrowness of the grave.” With this popular Syrian chant, Muhammad (44 years old) summarizes the painful reality of the news of the emergency increase in the rent price of his apartment, in the Qudsaya suburb in the vicinity of Damascus, a few days ago.
A forty-year-old employee at a company that manufactures and distributes detergents in Damascus describes his condition to Al Jazeera Net, “as if all the misfortunes and helplessness we have been experiencing in managing life since our displacement were not enough for us,” and he says, “I work 10 hours a day, except for Fridays, and yet our income only covers expenses.” Half the month, and after this latest increase in the rent for my apartment, the income will not be enough for more than a week.”
Muhammad adds, “I am not alone in this ordeal. Most of the building’s residents’ apartment rents have increased as of this month. Some of them will remain in their apartments, and some of them have decided to leave them and move to areas where rents are cheaper.”
Since their displacement 8 years ago from Deir ez-Zor to Damascus, Muhammad’s family, consisting of 6 members, has been living on subsistence, in light of deteriorating living and service conditions, with his salary amounting to 900 thousand Syrian pounds ($61), and the salaries of his two sons (14 and 17 years old) amounting to 1 million and 200 thousand. ($81) are the family’s only sources of monthly income, while the rent for their apartment alone has risen to 1,150,000 ($78) instead of 800,000 ($55) last month.
Damascus neighborhoods and its suburbs
Rents for residential apartments in the neighborhoods of Damascus, its suburbs, and its countryside are witnessing a noticeable increase, coinciding with the influx of thousands of displaced people into Syria during the past two weeks. The percentage increase in rental prices in those areas ranged between 25% and 100%, according to a number of real estate office owners there.
The average rent for two-bedroom apartments in the areas of Damascus and its countryside ranged between 1 million and 500 thousand liras and 3 million liras ($100-200) for an unfurnished apartment, while the average rent for furnished apartments ranged between 3 million and 5 million liras ($200-340). While some neighborhoods also exceeded these prices, starting their value where the mentioned prices ended, according to the type of apartment.
In the countryside of Damascus, Homs, and Tartous, the average rent for unfurnished apartments ranged between one and two million liras ($65-135), and for furnished apartments ranged between two and three million ($135-200), depending on the furnishings and covering, as those governorates were the ones that received the most displaced people from Lebanon. Since the start of the Israeli aggression against it, two weeks ago.
to exploit
Some real estate brokers in Damascus and its countryside are exploiting the current wave of displacement to pressure tenants to raise rents by large proportions, or force them to vacate apartments, to replace them with able-bodied people recently displaced from Lebanon, according to observers.
The profit of brokers, real estate office owners, and landlords is not limited to the value added to the rents, but also applies to the “commission” of the broker or office owner, and the “insurance amount” for the apartment. The commission is equivalent to the value of a full month’s rent, while the insurance value is about half the value of the monthly rent for the apartment.
Based on this situation, someone who moves to a new apartment, with a monthly rent of 1,500,000 liras ($100), for example, may have to pay 3,750,000 ($250) in one payment upon receiving the apartment, in addition to the cost of moving the furniture. , which has recently doubled due to the fuel scarcity crisis.
Some landlords are also taking advantage of the severe shortage of apartments offered for rent in some neighborhoods of the capital and its countryside, by requiring that a rent for 3, 6 months, or a year be obtained in advance from the recently displaced tenant from Lebanon, under the pretext of “guaranteeing their right” in the event that the tenant decides to move out within a period of one or two months. apartment, and sometimes they stipulate that they receive the amount in dollars.
Ensaf (51 years old), a mother of 3 children and a Lebanese refugee from Tire district (southern Lebanon) to Damascus, says that she stayed for a week with one of her relatives in the capital before she was able to arrange an apartment to rent in the city of Sahnaya in the Damascus countryside, but the owner of the real estate office stipulated that Equity payment of 3 months in advance and in dollars, in addition to commission and insurance.
The monthly rent for Ensaf’s furnished apartment (consisting of two rooms and a living room) amounted to two million and 300 thousand liras ($156), but she paid a total of 10 million and 350 thousand ($700) upon receiving the apartment, including the agreed-upon three-month rent, the real estate office’s commission, and insurance.
Asking about the nationality of the tenant before disclosing the value of the apartment’s monthly rent has become a requirement for brokers and real estate office owners when asked about the apartments they have available for rent.
Housing crisis
Elias M. (32 years old), the owner of a real estate office in Damascus, told Al Jazeera Net that it is unfortunate that most workers in the field of brokerage and real estate rental find in this displacement an opportunity to collect as much money as possible before the situation stabilizes again. “They believe The displaced Lebanese, or those coming from Lebanon in general, have a large stock of dollars that they must benefit from.”
Elias added in his interview with Al Jazeera Net, “The exploitation that is taking place today reminds us of what happened in 2003 with the influx of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis to Syria, and then in the July 2006 war with the displacement of thousands of Lebanese as well. Exploitation is repeated by the same means.”
The owner of the real estate office points out that what is called today in the market as “apartment insurance” was not common before the influx of Iraqis to Syria, as this idea came as a result of the “saliva” of brokers when they saw Iraqi money at the time.
The Lebanese government’s Disaster Risk Management Unit estimated that more than 400,000 people crossed from Lebanon into Syria, the majority of them Syrians, within two weeks, that is, since Israel intensified its raids on various areas in Lebanon.
The unit said, in a report last Monday, that from September 23 to October 5, Lebanese General Security recorded the crossing of 300,774 Syrian citizens and 102,283 Lebanese citizens into Syrian territory.
