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A Guide to Regulations governing Upgrading and Construction of Residential Properties in Irbid

Attachments

Facilitating Improved Housing Responses for Syrian Refugees

Introduction

This document provides an overview of selected regulatory issues related to construction and upgrading of properties in Jordan, namely the process for Building and Occupancy Permits and for the connection of utilities (water and electricity).

This paper was developed in January 2014 based on the experiences of NRC's urban shelter programme in Irbid. Information was collected using key informant interviews and a review of literature available in the public domain. A series of interviews were held with Jordanian property owners that are benefitting from NRC's urban shelter programme and who had recent experience negotiating the regulatory procedures when upgrading or constructing properties. This information was supplemented by a review of laws and regulations. Finally, interviews were held with local municipalities and utility companies in Irbid.

It is widely held that overly bureaucratic regulations governing housing and land can have negative impacts on the urban poor. One of the main consequences of such regulation is that it forces people into situations of informality and uncertainty regarding their tenure situation. Building codes in particular are a common area of irregularity, often stemming from inappropriate building codes that were developed based on the codes of colonising countries. Informality is considered undesirable as it can lead to a diverse range of negative consequences including, among others, underinvestment in housing (resulting in unsafe or unhealthy conditions), inefficient and inequitable land use and reduced tax revenues.

Many states undertake programmes to improve the situation of those with irregular properties. This can be through a variety of methods including upgrading of informal settlements, 'regularisation' of holdings, recognition of a continuum of intermediate tenures or streamlining regulatory procedures. The World Bank, in particular, has a focus on the latter approach by monitoring regulations globally across a range of sectors. A common way to help provide increased security of tenure is to enable those with informal holdings to access utilities (e.g. by not demanding proof of ownership in order to obtain electricity or water connections).