Lebanon

From Dossier Narrative

“Life has rules”, Abu Hasan

The second part of the narratives of the residents of the Beirut pine forest during the 2026 war.

Policy Watch

Abolishing the Vacancy Exemption in the 2027 Draft Budget:

A First Step Towards Curbing Speculation

The 2027 Draft Budget proposes abolishing the Built Property Tax exemption for vacant apartments, which could help curb vacancy and speculation. However, given Lebanon’s high vacancy rates, a separate progressive vacancy tax is also needed to further discourage prolonged vacancy, increase the availability of housing, and address the ongoing housing crisis and displacement caused by the Israeli war.

From Dossier Narrative

A loquat from Abba on the sidewalk of the Beirut Pine Forest

The first part of the narratives of the residents of the Beirut pine forest during the 2026 war.

Study

Syrian Refugees in Lebanon: 

Between Housing Vulnerabilities and the Limits of “Voluntary” Return

This report examines the housing vulnerabilities of Syrian refugees in Lebanon between September 2024 and April 2026. It shows how housing vulnerabilities shape the production of “voluntary return” under constrained conditions, where the deteriorating conditions in Syria intersect with a push environment, restrictive policies, and forced evictions in Lebanon. The report concludes that the absence of a rights-based housing and asylum framework sustains instability.

Dossier

What Beirut’s pine forest concealed during the 2026 war: Diaries of displacement and longing

A series of narratives of the residents of the Beirut pine forest during the 2026 war.

Report

Municipalities at War: When Local Authorities Decide the Legitimacy of Housing

This report documents 68 municipal circulars and measures issued during Lebanon’s March – April 2026 displacement crisis, examining how local authorities expanded their role from emergency response to surveillance, control, and restrictions on housing and mobility. It also analyzes post-ceasefire municipal initiatives aimed at curbing housing exploitation and supporting return. The report calls for a rights-based approach that clearly defines municipal powers within a comprehensive national housing policy.

Field Watch

The Demolition of Houses in Al-Hara Al-Jadida and the Displacement of their Residents:

When the Authorities Solve a Conflict of Their Own Making 

On July 9, 2026, security forces forcibly evicted residents and demolished ten homes in Al-Hara Al-Jadida neighborhood, under the guise of resolving an “illegal occupation.” This Fieldwatch reveals that the issue is a direct result of failed state housing policies and 1970s land consolidation and parcelation project, which re-divided land among owners on paper while ignoring actual residents on the ground.

Policy Watch

 How the Deadline  Suspension Law Affects Old Rent Tenants’ Rights

The new law suspending legal deadlines, adopted in 15/07/2026 by the parliament,  provides old rent tenants an additional window until july 31, 2026 to preserve their rights,  by  applying for the rent support …

Research-Based Article

Informal Neighborhoods between State Approach and Israeli Destruction:

The Cases of Hayy al-Sellom and Hayy al-Miqdad 

This article examines the conflict between an official vision of Beirut as an elite city for tourism and investment and the lived city built by displaced and rural communities. It shows how informal neighborhoods in southern Beirut became essential parts of the city and expressions of the right to the city. It also explores how the Israeli destruction and restrictive reconstruction and property policies may deepen displacement and exclusion.

Decree Commentary

Beirut, the Confiscated City: 

From Privatizing the Waterfront to Expelling the Displaced

This commentary examines Decree No. 5665/1994, which transferred approximately 291,800 square meters of reclaimed public maritime land in central Beirut to Solidere as part of the post-war reconstruction process. It revisits the decree in light of the ongoing governmental debate over extending the company’s mandate and the eviction of displaced families from the BIEL waterfront, questioning its impacts on public property, Beirut’s waterfront, and the right to the city.

Policy Watch

When Southern Municipalities step into the State’s absence: A reading in Rent- control measures across southern villages of return

Between June 18 and 27, 2026, fifteen municipalities and two municipal unions across Nabatieh and South Lebanon capped rents to protect families returning to villages emptied by displacement during the Israeli war, echoing a similar 2023 circular from the Nabatieh Governorate.
This piece traces how local authorities are stretching what limited tools they have to rein in a rental market marked by flagrant exploitation, amid a total absence of state-level response and no national housing policy for the areas of return.

Policy Watch

Old rent Verdicts continued:

A single verdict restores fund beneficiaries’ rights among fragmented readings of a broken law

Since the nine-year extension expired in February 2026, Lebanese courts have been issuing verdicts in old rent cases at an accelerating pace, while navigating a law whose core components, the tenant support fund and committees, remain unfunded and inoperative. The Housing Monitor examines five recent verdicts that follow a troubling shared logic which examines procedural compliance in a non-functioning system to decide who qualifies for legal protection. Against this backdrop, one court stood apart, suspending court proceedings without demanding the impossible.