Lebanon's rent law explained: old rents and new leases in 2026

Lebanon's rent rules split on one date: 23 July 1992. A lease signed since then is a free contract of at least 3 years. Older leases were extended by law. For homes, the 2017 rent law's 9-year extension ended on 28 February 2026 if counted from that law, but courts are split on the start date and on the effect of the tenants' assistance fund, which has never come into force. Old shops and offices have a 2025 law giving them 5 to 8 more years.

Which law covers your lease?

How the 2017 law phases out old home rents

Law 2/2017 took effect on publication, 28 February 2017. Its Article 15 extends old residential leases for up to 9 years, or 12 for tenants who benefit from the fund, while the rent climbs to an "equivalent rent" (بدل المثل): 4% a year of what the flat would sell for empty (Article 20).

On a flat worth $200,000 empty, that's $8,000 a year, about $667 a month.

The fund (صندوق المساعدات, often called «الحساب») was meant to pay all or part of the increases for tenants whose household income is at most 5 times the official minimum wage (Article 3). To get its help, a tenant applies to the rent committee every year, within a 2-month window (Articles 8 and 11). For 3 more years, Article 16 has the tenant ask the owner in writing, at least 3 months before year 9 ends, for a new lease of up to 3 years at the equivalent rent, and show a committee decision that they qualify.

Has the old-rent extension ended?

Counted from Law 2/2017's entry into force, yes: on 28 February 2026, for tenants outside the fund. But in April 2024 a Metn appeal court counted from the 2014 law instead, which ended the 9 years in December 2023. Single judges in Beirut and the Metn counted from 2017 in rulings reported in November 2025, and so did the Mount Lebanon appeal court in June 2026.

The deeper split is the fund. It has never come into force and the rent committees haven't begun to exercise their powers, as that appeal court noted in June 2026. Article 58 suspends cases that would set the rent of, or evict, a tenant concerned by the fund until it does. Courts disagree on who counts as concerned.

• On 10 June 2026 the Mount Lebanon Court of Appeal (Metn rent chamber) upheld an eviction. It held that only a tenant who applied to the committee and sent the 3-month letter in time is protected, and this tenant had done neither in time.
• A Mount Lebanon appeal decision of 28 April 2025 held that the deadlines can't be counted at all while the fund and committees don't exist.

Law 46/2026, passed because of the war, froze deadlines from 1 March to 31 July 2026, the rent laws' deadlines included. The owners' syndicate's legal adviser says it can't revive deadlines that had already run out. The head of a lawyers' group campaigning to amend the rent law says tenants can resend their Article 16 letters and Article 8 applications. In November 2026, Parliament's Administration and Justice Committee was still studying two proposals on old home rents.

Tip: Ask your lawyer which line the court in your district has taken. Similar cases have gone both ways.

Old shops and offices: the 2025 law

Old non-residential leases (signed, with the original term over, before 23 July 1992) fall under Law 11 of 5 June 2025, rewritten by Law 24 of 14 August 2025 (in force since 21 August 2025):

• 5 years at most for most shops, offices and workshops.
• 6 or 7 years for leases taken over with the sale of a business.
• 8 years for public bodies, regulated professions, and premises over 500 m² where the tenant paid for the owner's works.

The fair rent is 5% a year of the sale value as if empty: $15,000 a year on a $300,000 shop. On the 5-year track the rent is the old rent plus 30% of the gap to the fair rent in year 1, plus 40% in year 2 and plus 50% in year 3, then the full fair rent until the lease becomes free. Anything about "4 years" or "8%" describes the text before August 2025.

Apart from the tenant's own breaches, such as unpaid rent after a formal notice, the owner can take the premises back early only for a hospital, school or charity's own use, or to rebuild, against compensation. The 8 years for premises over 500 m² run from the law's entry into force, but the text doesn't say when the other periods start, so check a shop's end date with a lawyer.

New leases: what the law requires

Since 23 July 1992, a lease is whatever the two sides agree, within a few binding rules:

• Minimum term. A lease written for less than 3 years counts as 3 years. A tenant leaving at the end of one of those years gives 2 months' notice by registered letter or notary (Article 543).
• Registration. A lease longer than 3 years binds a third party, such as a buyer of the flat, only if it's registered at the Land Registry.
• Rent increases. The owner can't raise the rent without the tenant's agreement before the lease ends, and a lease written for one year still runs 3 years on the same terms. That's why many leases build in a yearly step.
• Renewal. If the owner keeps taking the rent after the lease ends without objecting, it renews on the same terms.
• Fees. The tenant pays the municipal fees, the owner the built-property tax.

The law doesn't set the currency. Write down the currency and how rent is paid: in 2021 some courts were reported to be converting dollar rents at 3,950 pounds to the dollar, far below the market rate.

For deposits and what to check before signing, see renting an apartment in Lebanon.

What tenants and owners can do now

• Old tenants. Keep the lease and all receipts. If the owner refuses the rent, you can pay it through an offer and deposit at a notary (عرض وإيداع). If your household income is at most 5 times the minimum wage, ask a lawyer whether Law 46/2026 reopened your fund deadlines.
• Owners. Even where the extension has ended, that doesn't evict anyone by itself: if the tenant stays, it goes to court. To set the fair rent on an old shop, the owner first sends a written invitation to negotiate, and the tenant has 20 days to reply.

Most rent disputes go to the district's single judge for rent cases (القاضي المنفرد الناظر في دعاوى الإيجارات), then the Court of Appeal.

To look for a place, browse homes for rent or see rents by neighbourhood in Beirut.