HAMA, Syria (North Press) – Safa’ al- Alewi (a pseudonym), a young woman residing in the city of Hama, in the center of Syria, fears that her family will not be able to pay the rent for the house they reside in and will stay on the streets, as recently happened to families.
In June, the owner of the house rented by the al-Alewi family raised the month rent from 100,000 Syria pounds (SYP) per month to 200,000 SYP, while the salary of her parents who are government employees, does not exceed 110,000 SYP per month.
Al-Alewi said that the owner of the house always threatens to expel them from the house if they object to the rent, “and we are afraid that one day we will sleep in the street.”
Residents of the city of Hama told North Press that homeowners had recently expelled a number of families from the houses and threw their possessions on the sidewalks after they were unable to pay the rent.
The prices of renting houses in neighborhoods vary and differ from one homeowner to another, according to the tenants.
The city is witnessing a continuous rise in houses rents. In neighborhoods close to the city center, such as al-Shari’a and al-Bernawi, the month rent reached 400,000 SYP, while it reached 300,000 SYP in al-Sabouniya, al-Mashtal and al-Nasr neighborhoods.
Rents in popular neighborhoods and suburbs range between 100,000 and 200,000 SYP.
Exploiting the need
A week ago, Faris al-Hassan (a pseudonym), a resident in Hama, came across a family of two women and children staying on a sidewalk on the Aleppo Road neighborhood with their possessions.
Al-Hassan, after inquiry, knew that the owner of the house used to raise the month rent of the house by 5,000 or 10,000 SYP, taking advantage of the need of the family, who displaced from the northern countryside of Hama.
However, the house owner increased the last month rent by 100%, as he raised the month rent from 75,000 to 150,000 SYP. The two women were unable to secure this amount, so the house owner evicted them with their children, according to one of the woman.
This came in light of the stifling living crises experienced by the Syrians, which are represented by the high prices of all materials and goods, the low value of government salaries, the lack of job opportunities and the weak purchasing power of the people.
In addition, the prices of some houses in the city center exceeded half a billion Syrian pounds, while their price in popular neighborhoods reached 100 million SYP, according to the location and the cladding.
Real estate dealers in Hama attribute the reason for the high prices of real estate to the high prices of building materials such as iron and cement, in addition to the lack of space allocated for construction, while they attribute the reason for the doubling of rents to the cost of maintenance carried out by the owner of the house after the tenants leave.
After raising the rent, the tenants are forced to search for another house, but this is not easy, in addition to other costs of transportation, the cost of the new contract and brokerage, if they manage to find a suitable alternative.
Monthly contracts
However, Abdul Hadi al-Zitawi (a pseudonym), a house owner, justified the increase in the rent of his house by saying that he relies on him to sustain him. “The prices of all materials are high and I rely on it as a source of income, especially since I am unable to work.”
“Indeed, I pay costs to repair what the tenant has damaged; the maintenance is very expensive, and any piece in the house that breaks down will cost me to maintain it or sometimes replace it by another one. It is a whole month’s rent,” al-Zitawi added.
The rent for the al-Zitawi’s house, which he has been renting to families for years, is 125,000 SYP, according to a six-month contract.
Tenants in Hama accuse the homeowners of exploiting their urgent need, as some of them refuse to sign contracts for six months or a year and force payments every month or two to “constantly raise the rent.”
Talal al-Salem (a pseudonym), a resident of Hama, tried in vain to convince the owner of the house he rents to conclude a one-year contract, but he only accepted a three-month contract with raising the rent of the house from 75,000 to 125,000 SYP per month.
Al-Salem left the house and started looking for another one, “but I could not find one, the rents are too high and beyond my capabilities.”
He was forced to reside with his sister until he can find a house that its rent matches his monthly income.