Syrians face difficulties finding apartments to rent in Jeddah

Many Syrian families are struggling to rent apartments in Jeddah because building owners fear they will bring more family members to live with them, would not pay on time, or fight among each other because of political rivalry.
Adnan Abu Al-Shamat, a Syrian dentist who has lived in Jeddah for the past 10 years, said that when he brought his parents and brothers to live with him, the building's owner got angry and wanted more money from him.
“I am renting a three-room apartment for SR 25,000 in Al-Bawadi district. Six months ago, my parents and two of my brothers came from Syria to live with me in the same apartment. The building owner got very angry when he realized that more people were living in the apartment. He wanted my parents to rent another apartment in the same building,” he said.
“When I told him that my parents and brothers didn’t have money to rent another apartment, he increased the rent to SR 35,000.”
Abu Al-Shamat said he is now looking for another apartment.
“I've failed to find an apartment so far. Most building owners don’t want to rent out their apartments to Syrians. Although I showed them my ID, which proves my residency in the Kingdom, they still refused. I'm a dentist and can pay the rent on time. I don't know why they’re treating me and my relatives like this,” he said.
Rami Awad, a Syrian teacher who has worked in the Kingdom for the past five years, is also struggling to find an apartment. He claimed that most of the brokers’ offices that he visited refused to find apartments for him.
“They told me frankly that building owners don’t want to rent to Syrians, because they fear overcrowding in their apartments or non-payment of the rent. When I told them that I don’t have any relatives coming from Syria, they didn’t believe me,” he said.
Awad said he was told to find Palestinians or Yemenis who own buildings because they are expatriates and might be willing to rent him an apartment.
Abdullah Al-Ghamdi, a broker in Al-Rawda district in Jeddah, told Arab News that most Syrians seeking apartments are ready to pay high rents.
“I have received requests from many Syrian families who have been living here for many years, or who have just arrived in the Kingdom because of the war. They’re looking for high quality apartments in Al-Rawda and are ready to pay. The only problem is that most building owners refuse to rent to them,” he said.
Al-Ghamdi advised Syrians to try finding apartments in high-rise buildings where owners are unlikely to pay attention to nationality or social status.
Mohammed Al-Shara’bi, a Yemeni broker in Al-Safa district in Jeddah, said building owners fear Syrians would clash over the war.
He recently had a situation where two Syrian families living in one building had opposing political views, with one supporting President Bashar Assad and the other against him. “The two families had many fights. When one placed the official flag on their door, the other one then placed the new flag on their front door. Because of the flags issue, they fought and broke each other’s cars,” Al-Shara’bi said.
“After this incident, the building owner decided not to rent to any Syrian family ever again.”