Guidelines to implement right to housing (UN Rapporteur, Dec 2019)

• Guidelines for the Implementation of the Right to Adequate Housing: Report of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context

• By the Office of Leilani Farha, Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living. Published on 26 December 2019

• It was presented during the UN General Assembly Human Rights Council, 43rd session (24 February – 20 March 2020)

• Available as a PDF file here: http://www.unhousingrapp.org/user/pages/04.resources/A_HRC_43_43_E-2.pdf

• Summary:

  • "The current global crisis in housing is unlike any previous crisis. It is linked to growing socioeconomic inequality, large-scale financialization of housing and land and unsustainable housing systems that treat housing as a commodity. In the Special Rapporteur’s experience, States are not always aware of how human rights obligations apply in the context of housing and, more importantly, of how those obligations can be translated into concrete actions to address the crisis.

  • The Guidelines provide States with a set of implementation measures in key areas of concern, including homelessness and the unaffordability of housing, migration, evictions, climate change, the upgrading of informal settlements, inequality and the regulation of businesses. All of the implementation measures are informed by the urgent need to reclaim housing as a fundamental human right. Implementation of the Guidelines will substantially alter how States treat housing, creating a new landscape where housing can be secured as a human right for all."

• Keywords: right to housing, human rights, financialisation of housing, poverty, inequality, affordability, unaffordability, homelessness, migration, evictions, climate change, informal settlements, regulation