oPT West Bank - Rapid Rental Market Assessment: Situation Overview (September 2025)

KEY MESSAGES

• The rental market is highly informal and uneven, with limited supply and a portion of landlords engaging in practices that push vulnerable households into unsuitable or precarious housing.

• Beyond short-term stopgaps, more coordinated efforts are needed to strengthen tenant protections, expand the supply of suitable housing, and prepare for protracted displacement.

• Rental assistance is a critical lifeline that must be extended, as many displaced families would otherwise face eviction or exclusion from the limited housing options available.

CONTEXT & RATIONALE

Military operations in the northern West Bank in early 2025 have triggered large-scale displacement, particularly from the Jenin, Nour Shams, and Tulkarem refugee camps. Nearly the entire populations of these camps have been displaced into a mix of host families, rental accommodations, collective shelters, and makeshift structures. UNRWA’s April 2025 tracking exercises recorded approximately 22,000 IDPs in the Tulkarm governorate and 17,000 in the Jenin governorate, while surrounding governorates such as Tubas, Nablus, Ramallah, and Qalqilya host fewer than 100 IDPs in total. As of May 2025, more than 39,000 people remain displaced, with little prospect of return in the near term, given ongoing operations and the destruction/severe damage of thousands of shelters.i

Rental housing has emerged as a critical shelter option for many displaced families, although, the scale of reliance on the rental market is not yet fully known. The number of displaced households currently in rental housing will be quantified through a forthcoming household-level assessment. Several Shelter Cluster partners, including PHC, ACF, UNRWA, and MAAN, have already supported newly displaced households with three months of rental assistance, primarily covering financial costs. These interventions were rolled out without a recent or localised rental market assessment, limiting the evidence base for setting transfer values, targeting, or ensuring sustainability.

The need for a rapid rental market assessment is therefore pressing. This report responds to that need by examining the availability, adequacy, and cost of rental units in the Tulkarm and Jenin governorates, providing partners with the evidence required to decide whether to extend rental assistance for an additional three to six months. It also sheds light on supply and demand dynamics, housing quality, and protection risks, offering a clearer picture of the market and its limitations. By grounding these findings in the broader enabling environment, the report equips shelter partners to plan collectively for a protracted displacement scenario and target resources where they can achieve the greatest impact.

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