Shared Inheritance in Sabra – articulating the value of space and challenging the imagined certainty of property
In this article we follow the story of two widows who live in the low-income neighborhood of Sabra south of Beirut, in a small building they co-inherited with 11 other inheritors. We investigate how Nadia and Hayat’s housing rights are jeopardized by market-driven pressures, and undermined by the legal frameworks for inheritance and property. In many ways exemplary of much wider dynamics, their story offers glimpses into the unjust realities of over a third of the Lebanese population, who also live in inherited homes, and is a cautionary tale for private homeownership, which in 2014 represented over 40% of Beirut’s dwellers. Click on the image to download the full report (english).