In mid-2018, the citizen Mahmoud Farea (43 years old), from Hodeidah Governorate (western Yemen) came to Ibb Governorate (center of the country), displaced due to the intensification of fighting that erupted on June 13, 2018, between the forces of the internationally recognized government on the one hand and the Ansar Allah group (Houthis) on the other hand in Hodeidah Governorate.
Farea told "Khuyut", "The war forced us to leave our homes as shells fell on several houses close to us, which forced us to flee to Ibb governorate urgently to search for safety and stability, which we have missed since we heard the sound of bullets." Farea adds: "When we arrived in the city of Ibb, life was not as stable as we had imagined. Rather, we were surprised by the high cost of rental apartments as a result of the great demand and the lack of supply at the time."
Greedy landlords
Mahmoud recalls his days before the war in Hodeidah, describing them as "happy days", when he worked as a fisherman and supported his family of five.
On the contrary, Farea found himself unemployed in the city of Ibb, unable to pay the rent of the modest apartment in which he lives in the (Al-Subul) neighborhood of the city of Ibb which costs him an amount of fifty thousand riyals.
Due to the war had erupted on March 25, 2015 between the internationally recognized government backed by the Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE and the Ansar Allah group (Houthis), this made several cities vulnerable to bombing and shelling, which prompted citizens to flee. As a result, huge waves of displacement have been witnessed: Al-Hodeidah, Taiz, and Aden. People migrated to different areas, the most important of which are the cities of Ibb and Sana’a, where the demand for renting apartments and houses rent have dramatically increased, which caused crises and disputes between the landlord and tenant.
The war changed people’s souls and increased their greed.” In this sentence, the 50-year-old citizen, Intisar Al-Braihi, describes her suffering when she was notified by the owner of the apartment that he would raise the rent from 60,000 to 75,000 riyals.
Al-Braihi attributes the reasons for this rise to what she described as the “greed” of the lessor, who rents to whoever pays the most, regardless of the ethical and human aspects.
Fake rental Demand
According to Dr. Ali Al-Tariq, Dean of the Psychological and Educational Counseling Center at the Faculty of Arts at Sana’a University, housing is the quiet home that includes family members. The differences that occur between the landlord and tenant have psychological effects on the tenant and his family as a whole, so the burden of paying rent at the end of each month, and the burden of moving from one neighborhood to another and from one city to another, the multiplicity of children’s schools and their disconnection from the ties they formed in the first house. All these factors create a feeling of depression and failure for the father and the mother, and for the children alike. Al-Tariq added to "Khuyut": "The extortion that the tenant is subjected to and his feeling of vulnerability because he does not have a house may lead to family disintegration in some cases, the price of which is paid by the sons and children.
On the other hand, the lessor may sometimes be subjected to blackmailing of the lessee. Ali Al-Amari (47 years old), owner of a property in Al-Odeen Street in Ibb, told “Khuyut”: “I did not expect the case to reach the courts for the case of the tenant who refused to leave my house on the pretext that the state, in its decision, recommended not to evict him and take into account his circumstances in During the war.” Al-Ammari added: “The tenant pays only 45 thousand, which is the amount he paid five years ago, while the estimated price for renting an apartment consisting of three rooms, a sitting room, two bathrooms and a kitchen is seventy thousand riyals, according to the real estate price at the time and place.”
In this context, lawyer Abdel-Fattah Hamna believes that the market for renting houses and apartments in Ibb is subject to fictitious demand, and therefore the crowding caused by the displaced ended when most of them returned from Ibb governorate to Hodeidah.
Hamna points out that the purpose of the fictitious demand is the increase in rental prices, whereby the "brokers" and landlords, who wanted to rent, feel that the apartments and houses are non-existent, to pressure them to pay more. Hamna told "Khuyut": "Even with regard to the new legal amendment approved by the Sana'a House of Representatives, it does not stand with the tenant in the absolute manner that some have understood, as domination and cutting off the benefits of water and electricity remain on the tenant, at the disposal of the landlord, without any A penal deterrent against him, in case he breaches the services. Hamna continues: "The matter is very complicated, and there are no legal determinants that control the relationship between the lessor and the lessee, which is what makes this relationship moral in the first place."
Lessor fluctuations
“The landlord does not abide by his promise and does not appreciate the circumstances,” this is how the tenant Ali Al-Hazmi began his speech to “Khuyut.” He added: “I rented an apartment at the beginning of 2021. The agreement was between me and the landlord not to raise the rent because I am a student and support a family, and I cannot afford any increase above that.” An amount of 60,000 riyals, including water and electricity, so he agreed and promised to do so, but at the beginning of the current year he is asking me to increase the amount of ten thousand riyals the value of the monthly water subscription without appreciating his promise or our circumstances."
