Nadin Heinich: The Lebanese state has been bankrupt since 2019. The public administration is only working to a very limited extent. How has this affected your work as an architect?

Hala Younes: The crisis has caused the national currency to lose 90 percent of its value. While salaries in the private sector have been paid in dollars since 2019, salaries in the public sector have remained in Lebanese lira and have hardly been adjusted. Overall, there have been no significant reforms. Public sector employees can no longer live on their salaries. Most administrations therefore tolerate them working only two days a week and doing other jobs the rest of the time. Strikes are also a regular occurrence. Then nothing works at all.

It is hardly possible to apply for planning permission. Because you have to get a number of documents from the local authorities, such as the land registry for the property.

Nadin Heinich: What was it like before the crisis?

Hala Younes: Of course we also have building regulations. First, a project is submitted to the Chamber of Engineers for examination. It charges a fee according to the planned number of square meters. It uses this money to finance the health insurance and pension of all engineers. Then the urban planning directorate responsible for the area in question examines the construction project. It also charges a fee, this time for the municipality. Then you can start building. If a building complies with the submitted permit, a so-called certificate of conformity is issued upon completion. You can use the building and make use of public services such as water and electricity. But these things do not work anymore, and there is no proper control on what is actually built at the end.

Nadin Heinich: How do you get electricity and water then?

Hala Younes: There is no public electricity in the country now. Construction sites used to have a temporary connection, which were simply continued to be used. And because of the wells and other private water sources, a public water supply is not necessary in many areas. There are also hardly any controls in the countryside. It’s different in the big cities. But even if you don’t comply with the permit, you simply pay a fee for the additional square meters – often three times higher than the original amount – and can almost build whatever you want.

The laws do not serve the common good, but allow those who issue permits to profit from their power. The entire regulation of construction is in fact a system of exceptions. In reality, no one does what they should do according to the law. There’s always the option of applying for exemptions and paying for them.

Nadin Heinich: To what extent is there urban planning in Lebanon?

Hala Younes: Due to our constitution, every plot of land can be built on by default. Unless there is a zoning plan that prohibits or restricts building. Much of the territory is regulated by zoning plans. However, a large part of Lebanon is not regulated by such plans – in these areas, the allowed built up area is equivalent  to 50 percent of the plot area . The existing regulations are very simple. It is mainly about the maximum number of square meters you can build, always related to the plot, never to the city. Additionally, there are regulations that refer to the specific context, i.e. city center, rural region, hillside location, etc. However, they do not create significant architectural quality.

The value of a plot of land is defined by the number of square meters that can be built on it. This one-dimensionality makes effective planning very difficult. As soon as an authority announces that no or less building is allowed in an area for reasons of public welfare, for example because a beautiful forest is growing there, all landowners will immediately lobby very hard to prevent this planning. And even if they get permission for a smaller number of square meters, they can build more because no one controls them. Traditionally, the Lebanese have invested all their money in land and real estate, although in recent years they have increasingly invested it in banks because of the high interest rates. It was very interesting to buy land because you could sell it again in two or three years and not have to pay taxes on the profit.

Nadin Heinich: Are there any regulations that stipulate that project developers, if they build a certain number of apartments, must also build a school, kindergarten, or other facility for the common good or at least pay a levy for it?

Hala Younes: The laws never refer to the neighborhood or city level, but always only to the property. Schools are the responsibility of the state, the Ministry of Education, and the municipalities. A project developer would never build or finance a school.

Nadin Heinich: What were the main reasons for building apartments, the actual need for housing? Is there such a thing as social housing in Lebanon?

Hala Younes: A few social housing units were built in the 1960s. The supply of housing is mainly created by private investors but is not regulated  as a market. Some of the buildings were built by private individuals: Someone had a plot of land, plus a loan from the bank, and so erected a three or four-storey building. Professional project developers built where they thought they would be able to sell the apartments. They set a certain price and waited but did not have to sell immediately. Buildings could stand empty for years and still increase in value beacause of speculation.

Nadin Heinich: Are the majority of Lebanese renters or homeowners?

Hala Younes: Before the civil war, the majority of people lived in rented accommodations. The apartments did not belong to the state but were mostly privately owned. During the war, rent increases were prohibited by law. That was important to protect the people. Even after the end of the civil war, these “old rents” initially continued to apply. However, landlords were less and less able to maintain their buildings. A law was finally passed that allowed rents to be increased every three years. With a few restrictions. In my opinion, it would have been fair to allow both sides, tenants and owners, to share in the astronomical rise in land and property prices between 1975 and 2000, giving tenants the opportunity to buy the apartment at a reduced price. However, this made renting incalculable. People wanted to buy their homes. The central bank introduced interest-free loans for this purpose. These subsidized loans further boosted the real estate market. Developers knew that any employee with a minimum of stability could buy an apartment. Increasingly, people from the diaspora were also buying apartments. This was a good investment and the value rose steadily. Many apartments in the central districts of Beirut were built speculatively – and remained empty. Beirut is like a sponge.

Nadin Heinich: Was there a shortage of affordable housing despite the high level of construction activity?

Hala Younes: Yes, Beirut was expensive. People moved away from the center and to the outskirts. As there was hardly any public transportation, car traffic continued to increase. There were also cheap loans for cars.

Nadin Heinich: What is the situation today?

Hala Younes: The 2019 crisis brought the real estate market to a standstill. The central bank stopped subsidized loans as early as 2017 and the market slowed down. With the introduction of capital controls, a large proportion of savings in Lebanese banks were frozen. Dollars became “lollars” and could no longer be withdrawn directly (see interview with Patrick Mardini p. xxx). However, this money could initially still be invested in real estate. Put simply, the banks exchanged the loans they had granted to project developers for the savings. Those who reacted quickly enough were able to buy apartments. In addition, many private individuals had taken out loans over the years, which they could continue to pay off in lira. They benefited from the crisis at the beginning, as these loans also lost their value with the rapid devaluation of the lira. The banks, which had contributed to the crisis with their “financial engineering operations”, lost a lot of money in the process.

But who really paid for it? The state, which went bankrupt, and the people who couldn’t get loans because they couldn’t afford them, thoses who lost their savings and those who couldn’t even afford a bank account. The poorest people in the country!

Nadin Heinich: What are the tasks of today’s architects? Before the crisis, Beirut attracted many of the internationally renowned stars.

Hala Younes: Many architects were also developers.

Nadin Heinich: Did they ever ask where the money came from, whether the whole system was sustainable?

Hala Younes: Nobody asked. People invested their money at an interest rate of 13 percent, it was just interesting. The quality of the buildings from project developers was usually very poor. I never worked for property developers. You had to be an international star and get paid for your name. Only then did you have the power to enforce a certain level of quality.

With the crisis, many left the country. If they stay, architects often work for the Gulf region. Countries like Saudi Arabia are booming. Young people sometimes work online for international offices or go to Europe.

Nadin Heinich: Do you also see a positive result of the crisis?

Hala Younes: No. A positive outcome would have been if we had realized that land is not just for speculation, but that land has to be productive. The crisis has destroyed the myth that land prices in Lebanon will never fall. Nevertheless, there has been no real change in mindset. Many people have become so much poorer – we could have started to think about whether we should really be building everywhere, accepting the long distances between work and home. How we can finally create good public transportation. However, it’s not just the banks and the economy that have collapsed, but also the state. There is no one left to make decisions.

About:

Hala Younes is an architect and geographer. She has been running her own architectural practice in Beirut since 1995. After teaching at the École d’Architecture Marne-la-Vallée in Paris and various universities in Lebanon, she currently teaches at the Lebanese American University. In 2018, she initiated the first Lebanese pavilion at the Architecture Biennale in Venice. Entitled ‘The Place that Remains’, the exhibition took a critical look at the commercialisation of land in Lebanon.