By Badr Hussein
(Eqtsad)- People in Azaz city northern of Syria suffer of high rent of houses and shops, added to expensive essential materials, due to the high volume of displaced people who settled in the city which created high demand on house to rent and affected prices of goods.
There are about 120,000 people live in Azaz, half of them are displaced from other areas in Syria, added to 150,000 people live in camps around the city.
House rent cost in Azaz city almost as twice as the rent in Gaziantep city in Turkey. The rent cost of a-2 bedrooms-flat reached to $150, while a 3-bedrooms-flat is around $250, equal to TYR900.
This huge rise in rent cost result from the high volume of displaced people who reached to the city due to the relative safety after recapturing it from the Islamic State 2016 as part of Euphrates shield operation supported by Turkey.
a local council, municipality and a Sharea court try to manage and control the official aspects among people, but still, many issues are out of their hands and they cannot control.
People in Azaz cannot tolerate the expensive cost of living according to Abdul-Wahab who told Eqtsad that he rented a 3-bedroom-flat for $250, and at each renewal of the contract, there is an incrimination, added to the cost of water and electricity, all that suffocate displaced people who are already in shortage of money.
“The cost of living in Azaz has become twice as expensive as any city in Turkey”.
Abdul-Wahab explained that reasons behind of that soar in rent cost was due to high demand and shortage of supply, as the number of flats is low compared to the number of displaced people who look for shelters.
Engineer Ahmed al-Hussein, a member of the re-settlement committee added that besides the increased number of displaced people in the city which contributed to the rise in the prices of houses rent, ceasing building due to fear of shelling and bombing by regime forces has played a role as well, added to attacking the city by ISIS.
Al-Hussein added that lack of public services in the countryside and nearby villages like schools, clinics and hospitals, and the huge variation on income among people, as many aid and relief organisations pay high salaries for their employees, and most of them live in Azaz, all that created added demand for accommodation.
In regard to solution, al-Hussein cannot find a better solution than the moral and religious deterrent of houses’ owners because it is up to them to decide the amount of the rent, added to the need to create a mechanism of monitoring and rent by the municipality and local council and determine the rent of each flat according to the site, number of rooms and the state of the house, and holding accontability to whome do not abide by the regulations.
Moreover, according to the engineer, finding safe and reliable transportation between villages and Azaz for students, can release the demand for houses.
The engineer explained that after the relative security and calmness in the city, and the high demand for houses, the city is witnessing a increase in building operation in the city, which could contribute in bringing rent down, but that needs time. Added to liberation the city fo al- Bab, Bazaga and Qubasin and other villages around, would play a role in reducing demand for flats in Azaz.
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