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Over 4.1 million Syrians need Housing, Land and Property (HLP) support across the country1. HLP concerns remain a critical protection issue across Syria and continue to significantly undermine safe return, stability, and recovery prospects in 2026. In a context marked by widespread informal housing arrangements, large segments of the population are unable to access, prove, or reclaim their housing and land rights due to widespread loss or destruction of ownership documentation, prolonged displacement, secondary occupation, and the limited functionality of formal land, administrative, and justice institutions.
Decades of conflict, fragmented governance, inconsistent administrative practices, and varying legal frameworks across territories have severely weakened the institutions traditionally responsible for land registration, dispute resolution, and property adjudication. In many areas, cadastral offices lack resources and updated records, judicial bodies face capacity and staffing shortages, and civil registries are unavailable or non-functional. These institutional gaps create significant challenges in verifying ownership, restoring property rights, resolving disputes, or facilitating restitution and compensation processes. HLP challenges are particularly acute for returnees, who commonly face issues such as secondary occupation, disputed ownership, or informal or unlawful property transactions undertaken during their absence.
Returnees are disproportionately (71%) residing in damaged housing, reinforcing unresolved HLP issues and structural damage as key barriers to safe, dignified, and sustainable return—and increasing the risk of secondary displacement2. In several governorates, eviction risks and unresolved disputes remain common, contributing to renewed displacement and community tensions. Formal dispute resolution mechanisms are often inaccessible, overstretched, costly, or non-functional, resulting in widespread reliance on informal mediation systems that offer limited legal certainty or protection safeguards.
Women face systematic and compounded barriers to HLP rights across all regions. Social norms, lack of documentation, limited legal awareness, exclusion from inheritance practices, and weak enforcement of existing protections continue to deprive women of secure tenure, increasing their exposure to protection risks, economic dependency, and exclusion from decision-making