Foreigners own less than seven percent of Beirut

Parliament commission to amend ownership law

The Administration and Justice Parliamentary commission is working on a bill for amending the foreign ownership law.

As of end-August, non-Lebanese persons owned 19.5 million square meters of land, while non-Lebanese companies owned around 16.9 million square meters. These figures represent only properties purchased after 1969. They also do not include properties in areas which have not been delineated.

According to the current foreign ownership law, property owned by foreigners should not exceed ten percent of the total area in Beirut, and three percent in other casas.

Foreign ownership in Beirut has so far reached 6.7 percent. In Mount Lebanon, it reached 2.08 percent in Metn, 2.6 percent in Baabda, and 2.1 percent in Aley.

MP Ghassan Mokheiber, member of the Administration and Justice commission, said the foreign ownership law has several gaps. “The new law will call foreigners requesting to purchase property for the purpose of investment, to present a feasibility study to assess the benefits of the plan beforehand,” he said.

The current law states that the time limit for executing the proposed project is five years. Nothing is being done to enforce this item. “The new law will state that the land should be reclaimed by the State and resold at a public bid,” Mokheiber said.

The commission identified the main gaps in the current law. It said the law should distinguish between built and un-built properties. It should also require including the opinion of municipalities in property transactions involving foreigners, so as to ensure the fair distribution of foreign ownership among villages. The law should also require the delineation of areas prior to being purchased by foreigners.