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Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Similar lessons can be learnt from post-disaster situations. Disasters occur in a social context framed by complex issues of power, politics and longstanding vulnerability and poverty, including widespread tenure insecurity. Understanding this complexity is fundamental to developing and implementing successful responses. This is illustrated in the case of Hurricane Mitch in Honduras in October 1998. According to official estimates Hurricane Mitch left 21 cities severely damaged, 82,735 houses damaged, 66,188 houses destroyed and 44,150 people homeless. In addition 123 health centres and 531 roads were damaged and eight health centres and 189 bridges were destroyed. As a result, an estimated 1.5 million people were negatively affected.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Poverty
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- Financialized housing markets create and thrive on gentrification and the appropriation of public value for private wealth. Improved services, schools or parks in an impoverished neighbourhood attract investment, which then drives residents out. The transformation of an old railway line in West Chelsea in Manhattan into a public walkway and park has attracted wealthy investors to a mixed income neighbourhood, radically transforming it with luxury housing units costing in the multimillions, and displacing longer term residents. In Vancouver, the opening of new public transport facilities in Burnaby, one of the few remaining areas of affordable rental housing, has quickly led to the development of expensive condominium towers, displacing residents who have not only lived there for decades, but also invested in developing their community.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The impact of housing finance policies on the right to adequate housing of those living in poverty 2012, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- Housing finance policies based on credit are inherently discriminatory against lower-income households, and at their best increase housing affordability for upper- and middle-income groups. Housing finance policies often "redline" the poor, who are required to pay much higher prices for financial services, exposing them to financial risks inherent to global financial markets and indebtedness.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Analysis of two alternative housing policies: rental and collective housing 2013, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- However, during the past two decades new mortgage products were designed specifically for borrowers with low incomes or poor credit history who were not eligible for regular mortgage finance, generating sub-prime loans. Although those lending policies were intended to enable access to credit for low-income households, they are extremely discriminatory: the poorer the credit taker, the higher the interest he/she has to pay. High-interest loans led to ever-increasing household indebtedness, economic insecurity, mortgage arrears and repossession rates. Poor households were forced to reduce expenditure on other essential needs, like food or medicines, in order to meet their housing debt.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Guiding Principles on security of tenure for the urban poor 2014, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- Measures to regulate financial markets and institutions. The deregulation of financial markets, along with policies prioritizing homeownership, has had adverse impacts on many urban-poor households. Sub-prime loans, payment defaults and foreclosures have led to tenure insecurity and evictions in several countries. Often, financial institutions, including microcredit institutions, charge higher interest rates to the poor to mitigate the heightened risk of default. In some cases, lenders have aggressively targeted low-income households for loans with exploitative terms, without explaining the terms and conditions, and ignoring their ability to repay. States should prohibit predatory lending practices and adopt regulations to ensure that mortgage payments are commensurate with income levels and do not compromise the satisfaction of other basic needs. Regulations should also mandate the full disclosure and communication of loan terms to applicants in accessible formats and languages.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- The post-Hurricane Mitch period also saw development in the legal framework related to land and housing issues, though the judicial system remained weak and so the potential benefits of the new legislation remained inaccessible to the poor. Missing from the current strategy in Honduras is a comprehensive programme to increase the supply of urbanized land and improve tenure security for the poor and the marginalized.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Analysis of two alternative housing policies: rental and collective housing 2013, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- In her previous report (A/67/286, paras. 10-13), the Special Rapporteur highlighted how the deregulation, liberalization and globalization of housing finance have had major implications for housing and urban development, eventually leading to the global affordability and housing crisis we are witnessing today. Housing costs are disproportionately affecting the poor and in Europe represent an average of 41 per cent of the income of people at risk of poverty. The affordability crisis is compounded by the erosion, neglect and liberalization of non-market mechanisms for allocating housing resources, such as rental housing (public and private) and different forms of cooperative and collective ownership, among others.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Reflection on work undertaken in first 14 years of the mandate; outline of opportunities and priorities 2014, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- In coordination with relevant mandate holders, the Special Rapporteur wishes to take up the problem of laws that criminalize homelessness or activities associated with homelessness, such as sleeping in public places, and to consider the discriminatory attitudes and perceptions that often lie behind such laws. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur will explore in some depth the stigmatization and discrimination often suffered by the homeless or those with other housing status (for example, "squatters", "slum dwellers" and "public/social housing tenants"), and will build upon the previous work of mandate holders, including the report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights on the penalization of people living in poverty (A/66/265) and the report of the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation on stigma and the realization of the right to safe drinking water and sanitation (A/HRC/21/42).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Guiding Principles on security of tenure for the urban poor 2014, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- Audits of unused land and housing and assessments of housing needs. An audit of unused and underutilized land, housing and buildings, both public and private, should be conducted concurrently with an assessment of the housing needs of the urban poor, including homeless persons, with the objective of matching availability with spatial needs. The assessment of current and anticipated housing needs should take into account patterns of urbanization and trends in migration, population growth and ageing. In South Africa, for example, the City of Cape Town was ordered by the High Court to conduct an audit of unused land plots to accommodate people facing eviction.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Analysis of two alternative housing policies: rental and collective housing 2013, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- The sections below provide a review of alternative housing policies for the urban poor that have been largely ignored by States in recent years - rental arrangements and collective and tenure - while analysing their compatibility with the promotion of the right to adequate housing of those living in poverty.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Mapping and framing security of tenure 2013, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- Informal settlements are self-made, spontaneous, self-managed and unplanned settlement and housing arrangements, initiated by urban poor themselves. They are generally characterized by precarious infrastructure and housing conditions. The term informal settlement has become common, but many other terms are used, such as "slums", "bidonvilles" and "favelas", among others.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Analysis of two alternative housing policies: rental and collective housing 2013, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Until the 1980s, slum dwellers and the urban poor had not been a target for financial services. However, in the 1980s private financial investors came to regard the poor as "bankable", and in the past 10 years, a growing number of housing microfinance programmes emerged offering loans to low-income households. Housing microfinance loans are much smaller than mortgages, are typically granted for shorter terms and are used mainly to finance progressive improvements to housing (for example, building sanitary amenities) and expansions to an existing dwelling.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Poverty
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Guiding Principles on security of tenure for the urban poor 2014, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- In addition to public and non-market rental options, States should promote private rental for the urban poor, including through policies to expand rental-housing stock. Such policies include tax incentives to owners, guarantees or insurance schemes against non-payment of rent, and the provision of grants or low-interest loans to landlords to improve dilapidated housing units on the condition that they rent to low-income tenants. A Government incentive programme in New Jersey, United States of America, for example, provides grants to landlords to provide safe, suitable and affordable housing for low and moderate-income residents. In Slovakia, subsidies are provided for the construction of rental apartments for low-income groups, including for socially excluded Roma communities. Housing allowances for low-income tenants should also be considered.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
13 shown of 13 entities