"صرخة غضب" للمستأجرين القدامى في الأشرفية: مستمرون باعتصامنا ونطالب بقانون عادل

1/ who do the old rents profit to? = the government! as they rent lots of buildings under the old rent system!

2/ the BIG problem is also that the new rents are free so the owners increase the rents without any justifications preventing average families to stay! ex: in achrafieh rents soared from 900$ to 2000$ for a 200m2 flat!

= conclusion: the government MUST control the rent prices and let owners rent their apartments at a rent that benefit both parties! but do the government really want to?

who gives the construction permits? who allows buildings to be built that destroy the landscape and are an architectural madness to satisfy the freakness of some designers? who allow buildings to spread with NO urban planning? who allow concrete to take over and NO green parks like ALL civilised capitals encourage? who let the owners fix their prices with NO control? who allows entire buildings to be built and no one living in it just to laounder dirty money? who let the city spread with NO study of the impact on water resources, electricity supply, sewage planning, streets....
LOL

so if elsewhere people are mad then let lebanese follow suit... what a logic!

And it is not only the needy, also the greedy. There are many well to do tenants (who are more well off than the building owner) are renting for almost free.

I work in the industry, the real estate "bubble" and the lunatic over inflated prices in greater Beirut especially began around 2007 fuelled mostly by expats' high demand versus short supply, nothing to do with Solidere.

and some rent at almost free prices while owning other buildings and renting them ! LOL

Supply and demand in a free market economy lead to situations like this. The country is tiny, Beirut is tiny, and demand was relatively strong especially between 2008 and 2010. Prices are also sticky which is why they aren't going down much.

Whether it's good or bad is a completely different topic which I don't think I can judge. Also, how to diagnose and prevent bubbles is something no Lebanese politician has the mental capacity to tackle.

But yes, scrapping a law that allows someone to rent a house in Ashrafieh for $300 a year while a neighbour paid $4000 for a square meter does sound fair to me.

The housing bubble occurred during 2008 mainly due to the crash in the markets and the housing crisis in the USA. A lot of people were looking for safe havens to invest in. A lot of foreign money went into driving the prices of real estate in Lebanon sky high. You cannot say its the same ratio as Paris; because the beauty of Paris far exceeds the beauty of Beirut the quality of services in Paris far exceeds the quality(or lack thereof) of services in Beirut. There is a specific law in France that limits the rise of bubbles in the real estate sector, so that any growth is simply a natural growth.
All the government need to do is impose a tax on any secondary houses that are not primary residences. This will cause foreign investors like the arab sheikhs who buy up 5 apartments without even looking at them, have to pay a housing tax on the residences that they personally do not reside in. It will reduce speculation and real estate prices will follow a natural growth pattern.

The problem in Beirut, Solidere, and the expats your talking about can be taken care of simply by instating a carbon footprint or an eyesore tax some cities in America have.

Simply put most apartments in Beirut are empty. Expats buy them as an investmemt and leave. They pay a discounted service fee to the building management to keep neighbors happy and thats it. Even builders keep the apartment for as long as they need till they get their million dollar buyer without any significant financial burden.

If the apartment is empty, tax it. Either live in it more than 6 months a year or rent it out, otherwise tax it. Explanation? Building a house has an adverse effect on the environment... You build because its needed.

Agree, exactly the same happened to my father, he worked 30 years in south America, bought a building in Bey, never got a penie, now retired and in need of income.
and yes, the renters are better off and have more money than him !!!

It seems some of you don't understand Demand & Supply. this is the Marketplace. If you want to live in a nice, well neighborhood, you must pay higher rent, you must work harder to earn more $$$. Stop relying on the govt. Why is the govt responsible for your laziness? this is theft by these low life people who are relying on the govt to provide them free or near free rent while they are driving the Mercedes, etc....

Instead of the state fabricating a fund that will be established (if ever) in God knows how many years to support those who cannot afford to pay rent and fabricating a law that screws everybody in a country where nobody but the poor workers pay taxes and get zero services, shouldn't the state start recovering the money that the mafias of Hariri, Jumblat, Gemayel, Geagea, Berri and other cronies have robbed in the amounts of billions of US dollars and do as proud nations attempt to do for low income people?