Report

Increasing Security of Tenure through Relationship Building and Written Lease Agreements: An Assessment of NRC’s Housing, land and Property Rights Pilot Project in Lebanon

NRC|Published 12. Aug 2014
l
Lebanon Housing, land and property (HLP) Information, counselling and legal assistance (ICLA) Shelter and settlements
As a result of the Syrian crisis, Lebanon hosts the highest number of refugees in the Middle East. Four years on from the conflict, many refugees are struggling to meet their basic needs, especially in regards to shelter.

In order to develop an understanding of the Lebanese response, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) Information, Counselling, and Legal Assistance (ICLA) programme conducted a pilot Housing, Land, and Property project from April-May 2014. This report presents the findings of the project, namely: Syrian refugees face severe tenure insecurity; refugees do not use written lease agreements, either because they are unaware of the benefits or afraid to request them; landlords are willing to sign written agreements; and supporting this relationship between refugee tenants and landlords is key to reducing tenure insecurity.

This report has been written and researched by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), with assistance from the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid.