Nearly 90% of Lebanon’s population lives in urban areas, with the majority living in the Greater Beirut area, where housing markets have increased in price substantially. With developers focused on middle- to upper-income markets, the need for affordable housing for half of the country’s population living under the poverty line is urgent.
Difficulties in housing provision come from a lack of regulation of property and housing markets by the government, along with a reliance on policies focused on expanding the mortgage market – which is inaccessible to the 55% of families in Lebanon living without a bank account. The rental market is also struggling from a lack of effective policy making and implementation, which has resulted in a market unaffordable for tenants and unattractive to investors. To move toward effective housing provision, there is a need for a new housing policy that cuts across the whole housing value chain, an approach to land and property, a reconfiguration of the existing housing stock, and the promotion of rental accommodation.
Source:
AFD. (2021) Affordable Housing, a Social Challenge Amidst Lebanese Crises. AFD.
Link: https://www.afd.fr/en/ressources/affordable-housing-social-challenge-amidst-lebanese-crises