Kurdistan

Rising rents in Hama calls for regulation of housing market

Hawar News ·Sep 16, 2026

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Hama Governorate, both the city and the countryside, is witnessing a continuous rise in house rents, amid growing difficulties in securing housing for low-income households, as demand increases while purchasing power declines and living costs rise. At the same time, calls are mounting for clear standards to regulate the rental market and protect the rights of both tenants and landlords.

Real estate sector workers and residents attribute the continued rise in rents to increased demand for housing, particularly with the return of numbers of displaced people from northern Syria and refugees from neighboring countries, alongside the movement of residents from rural areas to cities in search of employment opportunities, at a time when the available housing supply is failing to keep pace with demand.

Hama Deputy Governor Mohammad Jihad Tameh had previously stated in comments to the media regarding the real estate situation that the gap between the number of returnees and the available housing units is approaching twice the currently available supply. He noted that the governorate is working to place large properties under the Investment Authority's program in order to convert them into areas for real estate development.

According to his statements, the governorate estimated that around 35,000 apartments are planned to be built during 2026 and 2027, targeting those affected, returnees, and low-income households.

Tameh explained that there is currently no law requiring property owners to adhere to a specific ceiling for rent. He pointed to awareness-raising efforts through mosques and civil society associations to encourage landlords to reduce rental rates, while the governorate faces challenges related to limited funding and the stagnation of certain laws and regulations that hinder the expansion of real estate development projects.

In Hama city, Nour al-Din Karnaz, an employee earning a salary of around 1.5 million old Syrian pounds, says that the rent for a two-bedroom house with a living room, measuring approximately 100 square meters, reaches around $200 per month. The landlord requires a full year's rent to be paid upfront, equivalent to $2,400, in addition to the real estate agency's commission and a deposit that can, in some cases, amount to the equivalent of another month's rent.

Karnaz also links these conditions to rising electricity costs, as some landlords seek to ensure payment of bills and accumulated dues if the tenant leaves before settling them.

Employee Sawsan Khalouf notes that rental prices vary depending on the location and size of the house, its level of finishing, and the services available, such as solar power and furnishings. She adds that finding a house with rent below five million Syrian pounds has become difficult in some areas.

The increase is not limited to Hama city, but extends to Masyaf, Salamiyeh, Mhardeh, Al-Suqaylabiyah, and other areas, where rents for modest, unfurnished homes start at around one million Syrian pounds or more, while prices rise significantly for better-equipped or furnished homes.

In Masyaf, a real estate office owner says that rents are now being priced in dollars, starting at around $100 and increasing according to the home's location and size, its level of finishing, and the availability of furnishings and solar power.

Current prices in Hama's rental market reflect the continuation of this trend. Last September, rents ranged between 300,000 and 500,000 Syrian pounds in some rural areas, and between 500,000 and 1.5 million Syrian pounds in Hama and Masyaf, amid calls for urgent measures to control the market and protect tenants.

Notices issued in May of this year show that rents in Hama's popular and planned neighborhoods have risen to levels ranging from approximately 1.5 million to 5 million Syrian pounds, depending on the area and type of property, accompanied by complaints of periodic increases linked to fluctuations in the exchange rate and rising living costs.

At the same time, the problem does not appear to be limited to rents, as the real estate market itself is experiencing an imbalance between rising prices and weak purchasing power.

Regarding the role of government authorities in property valuation, the General Directorate of Real Estate Affairs in the governorate explained that it does not set real estate prices, noting that determining the “prevailing value” falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance, while the role of the Real Estate Affairs Directorate is limited to determining fees for real estate services.

This comes as the Ministry of Finance works to develop mechanisms for property valuation. Recent financial sources indicated a move toward adopting more accurate valuation standards and utilizing experts and real estate appraisers within specialized committees, with the aim of reaching more transparent property valuations and supporting the real estate financing market.

In 2025, the Ministry of Finance had announced the cancellation of the use of the prevailing value of real estate when calculating the property sales tax, adopting instead the value determined by the seller and buyer in the contract. It also abolished the tax on residential rents for Syrian landlords, as part of amendments aimed at simplifying procedures.

Residents of Hama and its countryside are calling for the formation of specialized committees to assess properties and establish clear standards for rental pricing that take into account the property's location, size, level of finishing, and available services, while ensuring that valuation does not become a tool that harms landlords' rights.

Residents believe that the existence of publicly announced and unified standards could help curb arbitrary and excessive pricing, particularly given that part of the rental market relies on the dollar, while some landlords require upfront payments, in addition to real estate agency commissions and deposits.

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