Does buying property in Lebanon give me residency?

Also asked as: “Residency by property Lebanon” · “Does owning a home in Lebanon give me a residence permit?” · “Article 50 2018 budget law residency” · “Lebanon residency for property buyers”

What the 2018 budget article said#

In April 2018 Lebanese newspapers reported that the 2018 budget law, as voted, gave any Arab or foreigner who bought a residential unit residency for himself, his wife and his minor children. The reports disagree on the details. Annahar and Al-Quds Al-Arabi called it Article 50, with permanent residency and a price of LBP 750 million (about USD 500,000 at the 2018 peg) in Beirut and LBP 500 million (about USD 330,000) elsewhere. Asharq Al-Awsat called it Article 49, with a USD 300,000 threshold^[1,2,3].

MP Ibrahim Kanaan gave a different account. He said the article was amended to grant only temporary residence, and that it did not let foreigners buy property in breach of the foreign-ownership law^[4]. Annahar also reported that the text was reworded during the debate so that residency would end when the ownership ends^[2]. We did not read the final published text, so we cannot tell you which version, if any, became law.

Why it stalled, and what is still unknown#

On 24 April 2018 President Aoun asked Parliament to reconsider the article and agreed with Speaker Berri to put it on hold. They were waiting for the Constitutional Council to rule on a challenge filed by ten MPs led by Kataeb head Sami Gemayel. Maronite Patriarch Rai had also objected^[1]. The same month, Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk said the article did not concern Palestinians, because a law prevents them from owning property, and that Syrian refugees did not need it to buy an apartment. Those were a minister's political remarks and do not settle the legal position^[2,3].

We could not find the Council's ruling or any decision putting the article into practice. Only General Security (الأمن العام) or a Lebanese lawyer who checks the current texts can tell you where this stands now.

Buying and residency are separate questions#

Whatever the residency position, a foreigner's purchase follows the normal foreign-ownership rules under Legislative Decree 11614 of 1969, as amended by Law 296/2001^[5,6]. You can own up to 3,000 m²^[5,6,7] in total without a licence; above that you need a Council of Ministers decree. See whether foreigners can buy property in Lebanon for how the limit is counted.

Residency would not make you Lebanese either: it does not give a right to Lebanese nationality, according to MP Kanaan^[1,4]. As a non-Lebanese buyer you also pay the higher registration fee: 3% of the value for Lebanese buyers, 5% for non-Lebanese^[8]. More in property registration fees.