Housing Justice Efforts in Lebanon: Statement of Solidarity

Partners of the Hub for Housing Justice express our unwavering solidarity with the ongoing efforts in Lebanon to advance housing rights and protect communities from displacement. At a time when Lebanon faces renewed Israeli escalation deepening a multifaceted housing crisis, Hub's partner Housing Justice Network and Public Works Studio have helped introduce an emergency anti-eviction rent reform bill, which is currently being discussed in Parliament, representing a first step within a critical and urgent intervention. 

Housing insecurity in Lebanon has reached alarming levels. Approximately 30% of the population—around 1.7 million people—relies on rental housing, while in Beirut alone, half of all residents are tenants. Many live under the constant threat of eviction, exacerbated by economic instability, unregulated rental markets. Moreover, ongoing Israeli attacks continue to displace entire neighbourhoods, towns and cities, amounting to 25% of the total population by March 2026. 

There is growing pressure for the Lebanese Parliament to pass the proposed reforms, which would constitute a landmark step toward safeguarding the right to adequate housing. They aim to introduce a fair rent formula linked to inflation and unit size, strengthen security of tenure, extend minimum lease terms, and provide critical protections for elderly and retired tenants. Importantly, these measures also seek to preserve the social fabric of long-standing residential communities that are increasingly at risk.

It is also important to highlight that the current housing crisis in Lebanon, exacerbated by the Israeli aggression, necessitates further intervention at the level of the Lebanese government through urgent interventions that adopt a zero eviction campaign, freezes rents and increases appropriate shelters for the displaced. 

In addition to the above, we recognise that these reforms are not only necessary but urgent. International support is now needed to help push these reforms forward as an emergency intervention as recent escalations exacerbate the existing housing crisis. We support the call for international engagement, including the involvement of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, to help advance these reforms and bring global attention to the situation in Lebanon.

The magnitude of the crisis also begs for international housing rights organisations  to push for holding Israel accountable for the war crime of domicide and to recognize that housing justice is not a post-crisis issue, but an ongoing struggle under conditions that systematically prevent return. Patterns of destruction, displacement, and systemic erasure perpetuated by Israel are not abstract, they are lived realities in several towns, cities and neighborhoods across Lebanon, where communities face repeated attacks on their homes, lands, and infrastructure. Every day, families risk losing their homes, their sources of livelihood, and the chance to return to their land.

We stand with our partners in Lebanon in their commitment to housing justice, dignity, and the protection of communities. We call on policymakers, international actors, and civil society to support these efforts and to recognize housing as a fundamental human right that must be upheld, especially in times of crisis. We urge partners to follow Housing Justice Network's campaign, and support broader housing justice efforts in Lebanon. 

In solidarity,
Partners of the Hub for Housing Justice