rent

Petition

Joint Letter to Stakeholders Addressing the Displacement Crisis:

Housing Is a Right That Cannot Be Postponed

Hundreds of displaced families continue to seek shelter in public spaces, under difficult conditions, while other families are forced to negotiate or open vacant doors on their own to avoid sleeping in the …

Project

A Comprehensive Law for the Right to Housing in Lebanon

In 2023, Public Works Studio launched a project for a comprehensive draft law for the right to housing in Lebanon. The project is a radical approach to addressing the housing crisis and its accumulations over the past decades, and is proposed as a tool capable of securing the diverse needs of a variety of social groups, especially the elderly, persons with disability, students, workers, families, and others. The project is rooted in a participatory methodology, and throughout its phases engaged in consultations with residents from marginalized communities, civil society institutions, and experts, whose ownership of the proposal is a pillar for the project’s success.

Law Commentary

The Suspension of Deadlines in the Absence of Housing Protection: A Legislative Loophole in Times of War

The suspension of deadlines in times of war is a key tool for protecting rights. However, excluding lease agreements from it undermines this protection and exposes tenants to the risk of eviction and homelessness. In the context of widespread displacement and declining ability to pay, the right to housing cannot be separated from any serious legislative response to the crisis. Including leases within the scope of suspended deadlines is not a technical detail, but an urgent necessity to ensure a minimum level of social protection under exceptional circumstances.

Research-Based Article

Eviction in Wartime: A Reading of Old Rent Eviction Verdicts

This article explores how courts in Beirut and Zahle selectively applied an inapplicable law to fast-track legally preventable evictions, while disregarding the consequences for old-rent tenants in a country already overwhelmed by war and displacement.

Law Commentary

Two Complementary Draft Laws to Strengthen the Right to Housing

On Wednesday, February 25, 2026, MP Halima Al-Qaqour, along with a number of MPs, submitted two draft laws to the Speaker of Parliament. The first, an amendment to the old residential lease law, …

Investigation

Where is the Fund? On old tenants’ struggles with applications to the rent support fund

Field documentation reveals how misinformation and discretionary practices in public administrations have blocked old tenants from applying to the rent support fund and protecting their housing rights.

Legal Memo

How to protect my rights as an old tenant under the new law liberating non-residential lease contracts?

This legal memo aims to clarify the most prominent developments brought by the new law liberating non-residential lease contracts and to answer the fundamental questions that tenants may have during the transitional phase of its implementation.

Policy Watch

Green light to destroy Beirut’s theater:

The Ministry of Culture removes protection under pressure from the Shoura Council and the owner's threats

The Ministry of Culture delisted lot number 243 in the Ain Mreisseh district (Beirut) from the general inventory list of historical buildings is a striking decision. This contradiction raises questions about the motives behind the decision, specifically that the lot includes Beirut Theater.
In this article, we review the details of the property and previous attempts to protect it, revealing an alarming threat on the theater and the adjacent buildings.

Narrative

 The New Rent Law Threatens to Dissolve a Neighborhood: The Eviction of a Building in Burj Hammoud

In Burj Hammoud, old tenants face eviction from their decade-long homes as Lebanon’s old rent law nears its end. Their story reveals the legal gaps in law 2/2017 and how unaffordable rents threaten entire communities.

Study

Tripoli Under Threat: Report on the Degradation of the Built Environment and a review of Mobilizing efforts towards Housing Rights

This report investigates the systemic deterioration of buildings in Tripoli, Lebanon, tracing how historical neglect, failed state policies, and the lived experiences of residents converge to fuel an escalating housing crisis. It offers a grounded overview of the community’s movement, organizational efforts, and resilience in the face of the destruction of their housing rights.

Study

The New rent Law: Active in Theory, Suspended in Practice

This article uses jurisprudence and legal opinions to argue that the2014 new rent law and its amendment in 2017 are inapplicable due to the absence of its essential implementation mechanisms. It highlights how courts and experts have affirmed the law’s current legal vacuum and its consequences on tenants’ rights.

Investigation

Housing Challenges in the Post-War Period: What Is Happening?

The recent war exposed Lebanon’s fragile housing sector, creating urgent challenges like soaring rents, lack of temporary housing, and forced displacement of vulnerable groups. Without clear policies and inclusive strategies, reconstruction risks deepening inequalities and undermining the right to secure, dignified housing.