Case: Syria
TENURE TYPE: use rights
INTERVENTION: non-structural rehabilitation of occupied shelters
TENURE DURATION: SHORT-TERM
Before the crisis, urbanization in Syrian Arab Republic (Syria) led to informal settlement growth, worsened by the scale of conflict-induced displacement since the crisis began. Large influxes of displaced communities settled in host communities with limited access to ownership documentation and a preference for verbal agreements, leading to ownership disputes and eviction. The shelter project aimed to provide non-structural rehabilitation of privately-owned buildings, but needed to confirm ownership, landlord permission and tenure security for project recipients.
Key actions
Community-level HLP assessment:
The assessment aimed to understand the complex stakeholder dynamics, how HLP rights were acquired, if documentation was available and how HLP disputes were resolved.
Household-level ownership verification:
Through interviews with landlords and tenants/occupants, shelter actors identified who either owned or could authorize the use of the building and determined the risk-level of the building being disputed. This was then shared with the legal team to recommend the level of certainty to proceed.
Sourcing Legal support:
Legal support analyzed applicable laws in the area and data collected from the HLP assessment was shared for team’s recommendation on level of certainty to proceed.