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Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- State compliance with the right to adequate housing must ultimately be assessed in relation to the circumstances of rights-holders. A human rights framework for addressing the financialization of housing must challenge the way in which accountability to the needs of communities and the human rights obligations of Governments has been replaced with accountability to markets and investors. Mechanisms must be established for rights-holders to be fully heard and engaged in decisions that affect them. States must ensure that financial institutions and investors are responsive to the needs of marginalized communities, behave in a manner that is consistent with the full realization of the right to adequate housing and provide complaints procedures and access to effective remedies.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 72
- Paragraph text
- Some Governments have chosen to encourage a more inclusive approach to private investment in housing in the form of financial incentives to encourage the development of affordable units. The Government of Algeria, for example, finances the development of rental housing for households earning less than 1.5 times the minimum wage, on free government land. It also provides a lease-to-own programme for households with little down-payment capacity. Other Governments require that developers include a proportion of affordable units. The Mayor of London recently announced that builders will be required to ensure that 35 per cent of new homes that are built are genuinely affordable.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- What is so stark about the pouring of those vast amounts of money into housing is that hardly any of it is directed towards ameliorating the insufferable housing conditions in which millions live. If even a portion of those amounts was directed towards affordable housing and access to credit for people in need of it, target 11.1 of the Sustainable Development Goals, to ensure adequate housing for all by 2030, would be well within reach. Financialization under current regimes, however, creates the opposite effect: unaccountable markets that do not respond to housing need, and urban centres that become the sole preserve of those with wealth.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 36
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- In the Convention, a broad and substantive concept of the right to equality and non-discrimination is affirmed. Prohibited discrimination includes any distinction, exclusion or restriction on the basis of disability that has the purpose or effect of impairing or nullifying the enjoyment of human rights, including the right to adequate housing. As such, the provision extends to any failures to address systemic inequality in access to adequate housing, including those relating to inadequate services, insufficient social protection and a lack of affordable housing.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- Emerging norms for business and human rights and increased attention to corporate social responsibility offer additional avenues through which to pursue enhanced accountability and effective remedies for violations of human rights linked to the financialization of housing.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 1
- Paragraph text
- The expanding role and unprecedented dominance of financial markets and corporations in the housing sector is now generally referred to as the "financialization of housing". The term has a number of meanings. In the present report, the "financialization of housing" refers to structural changes in housing and financial markets and global investment whereby housing is treated as a commodity, a means of accumulating wealth and often as security for financial instruments that are traded and sold on global markets. It refers to the way capital investment in housing increasingly disconnects housing from its social function of providing a place to live in security and dignity and hence undermines the realization of housing as a human right. It refers to the way housing and financial markets are oblivious to people and communities, and the role housing plays in their well-being.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- States' human rights obligations are commonly categorized on the basis of a tripartite division of obligations to respect, protect and fulfil human rights. A State must respect the right to housing by refraining from taking any action that would violate that right, protect individuals and communities from violations of the right to housing by third parties and fulfil the right to adequate housing to the maximum of its available resources, with a view to achieving progressively its full realization by all appropriate means, including particularly the adoption of legislative measures. The obligation to fulfil the right to housing includes adopting and implementing, in collaboration with stakeholders, strategies for the realization of the right to housing that clarify the responsibilities and roles of all levels of government, institutions and private actors, with goals, timelines, accountability mechanisms, appropriate budgetary allocations and measures to ensure access to justice.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- In the first case to be considered by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights under the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, I.D.G. v. Spain, the Committee considered States' obligations to ensure access to justice in the context of mortgage foreclosure. As a result of a domestic court's lack of diligence, the author of the communication had not received notification of mortgage enforcement proceedings and received no other communication prior to an auction order. In those circumstances, the Committee found that the author's right to access to justice to protect the right to housing had been violated. The Committee found that "such notice in respect of a foreclosure application needs to be adequate, in accordance with the standards of the Covenant applicable to the right to housing". The Committee clarified that Spain should ensure that no eviction takes place without due process guarantees, affirming that "the right to housing should be ensured to all persons irrespective of income or access to economic resources".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- The State must regulate, direct and engage with private market and financial actors, not simply to ensure that they do not explicitly violate rights, but also to ensure that the rules under which they operate and their actions are consistent with the realization of the right to adequate housing. States are obliged under international human rights to ensure that private investors respond to the needs of residents for secure, affordable housing and do not cater only to the wealthy or purchase homes simply to leave them empty.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 45a
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has identified some indicators of whether a State has satisfied a standard of reasonableness, including:] The extent to which the measures taken were deliberate, concrete and targeted towards the fulfilment of the right;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- The report builds on important work undertaken by the previous Special Rapporteur on the right to housing. In her 2012 report on the impact of finance policies on the right to housing of those living in poverty (A/67/286), she warned of emerging trends towards the financialization of housing encouraged by States' abandonment of social housing programmes and increased reliance on private market solutions. She documented attempts by States to rely on the private market and homeownership, which increases inequality and fails to address the housing needs of low-income and marginalized groups. More fundamentally, she called for a paradigm shift through which housing would once again be recognized as a fundamental human right rather than as a commodity. The present report takes up that challenge.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- Those types of programmes or agreements must be properly designed and monitored in order to be effective. For example, definitions of "affordability" do not always reflect actual income levels of those in housing need and accountability mechanisms to ensure that developers deliver are rarely in place. Additionally, agreements to include affordable housing within developments have sometimes resulted in the stigmatization of tenants occupying the affordable units. Referred to as the "poor door" phenomenon, low-income tenants are segregated from the more affluent residents, compelled to use separate, less attractive entrances and segregated services, such as laundry facilities and waste bins.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Financialized housing markets respond to preferences of global investors rather than to the needs of communities. The average income of households in the community or the kinds of housing they would like to inhabit is of little concern to financial investors, who cater to the needs or desires of speculative markets and are likely to replace affordable housing that is needed with luxury housing that sits vacant because that is how best to turn a profit quickly. Financialized housing thus precipitates what has been referred to as "residential alienation", the loss of the critical relationship to housing as a dwelling and the diverse set of social relationships that give it meaning. In financialized housing markets, those making decisions about housing - its use, its cost, where it will be built or whether it will be demolished - do so from remote board rooms with no engagement with or accountability to the communities in which their "assets" are located.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- The right to adequate housing is, at its core, the right to a place to live in dignity and security. It is interdependent with other human rights, particularly the right to equality and non-discrimination and the right to life (see A/71/310). It is against those core human rights values that the actions of States in relation to financial actors and housing systems are to be assessed.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Homelessness as a global human rights crisis that demands an urgent global response 2016, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- It is also important to supplement data on services used by homeless people with estimates of those who are homeless but do not access services. When homelessness is assessed by counting the number of people sleeping in shelters or using services, improvements in those services may appear to increase the number of homeless, when in fact lower numbers simply reflect some improvements in meeting emergency needs. On the other hand, some cities have denied services as a punitive means of attempting to reduce the numbers of homeless in their jurisdiction. In those cases, lower numbers of people in homeless shelters is evidence of a serious violation of human rights. It is always important, therefore, to look behind numbers. Policies and accountability measures based exclusively on raw numbers are inadequate or incomplete from a human rights standpoint. Raw numbers may perpetuate exclusion and invisibility and fail to identify changes in the nature or experience of homelessness.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Homelessness as a global human rights crisis that demands an urgent global response 2016, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- Dichotomies of legal/illegal, formal/informal and deserving/undeserving applied in the global South parallel the criminalization of homelessness in northern countries. The urban poor are made "illegal" and "encroachers" by the denial of fair access to land and legal status or title. People who have been rendered homeless in urban centres are relocated to city peripheries and deprived of economic opportunities and social networks, a process that has been labelled "socio-spatial stigmatization".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The right to life and the right to adequate housing: the indivisibility and interdependence between these rights 2016, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- In its general comment No. 4 on the right to adequate housing, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights rejected definitions of adequate housing that focused on physical shelter and instead adopted a definition linked directly to the right to life. The Committee stated the following: The right to housing should not be interpreted in a narrow or restrictive sense which equates it with, for example, the shelter provided by merely having a roof over one's head or views shelter exclusively as a commodity. Rather it should be seen as the right to live somewhere in security, peace and dignity.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The right to life and the right to adequate housing: the indivisibility and interdependence between these rights 2016, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- In a few cases, the Committee has considered how homelessness creates a serious threat to life, health and personal integrity for individuals in vulnerable circumstances. Surprisingly, however, the Committee has been reluctant to engage with homelessness as a violation of the right to life. Instead it has found that State action leading to homelessness may constitute cruel and inhuman treatment, contrary to article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, or unlawful interference with the home, contrary to article 17. While recognizing the interdependence of civil and political rights with the right to adequate housing, the Committee has largely confined this recognition to a traditional negative rights framework of treatment, punishment or interference and has not engaged with substantive obligations to address homelessness and inadequate housing as violations of the right to life.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The right to life and the right to adequate housing: the indivisibility and interdependence between these rights 2016, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- The narrowing of the right to life to a negative rights framework has deprived millions of already disadvantaged individuals of the full protection of this core right. In many domestic contexts, the right to housing may not be enshrined in law and cannot be claimed directly, whereas the right to life appears in most constitutions. In this context, a narrow interpretation of the right to life may prevent someone who is homeless or suffering severe housing inadequacy from making any human rights claim whatsoever. On the other hand, where the right to adequate housing is explicitly protected as a self-standing constitutional right, it is more effectively enforced by courts when connected to the right to life. Making this connection allows courts to better assess whether adequate resources have been allocated and reasonable measures taken in accordance with core human rights values.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Homelessness as a global human rights crisis that demands an urgent global response 2016, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- From a human rights perspective, the Special Rapporteur advocates a flexible and contextual approach to defining homelessness that recognizes experiences and understandings of homelessness among different groups and in diverse circumstances. A human rights definition should focus attention on the most desperate situations while ensuring that those who are homeless identify those circumstances themselves, define their needs and are recognized as actors in effecting change to fully realize their right to adequate housing. The social dimensions of homelessness are also central to a human rights definition.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Homelessness as a global human rights crisis that demands an urgent global response 2016, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Those who are homeless are constructed as a social group. Worldwide, their identity is created and then reinforced by people who have more money, more power or more influence. It is a vicious circle. Laws, policies, business practices and media stories depict and treat homeless people as morally inferior, undeserving of assistance and authors of their own misfortune, and blame them for the social problems they come to represent. Once stigmatized, their needs are further neglected and inequality and discrimination further entrenched.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Homelessness as a global human rights crisis that demands an urgent global response 2016, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- Homeless people are subject to constant intimidation and harassment by authorities and the general public; they are denied access to basic services or places to shower, urinate or defecate; they are rounded up and forced out of cities and relocated to uninhabitable places; they are walked over and passed by; they are subject to extreme forms of violence, including hate crimes and sexual violence; and they are often the subject of vilification. At the same time, some forms of homelessness remain totally invisible and neglected, in particular in parts of the global South, where homelessness remains relatively unacknowledged or where the distinction between very precarious housing conditions and homelessness may not be easily drawn.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Homelessness as a global human rights crisis that demands an urgent global response 2016, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- The favouring of profit over people's human rights through the unequal allocation of land, property, housing and related services in cities is a major driver of homelessness. Unregulated or underregulated financial and other market forces, and unfettered land and property speculation resulting in escalating land values, all contribute to the inequality of wealth distribution and homelessness. These systemic inequalities are compounded by direct discrimination against people who are poor, often pushing them to precarious housing conditions, including into informal settlements or on occupied land, and ultimately into homelessness. Many municipalities use planning and zoning laws or regulations to prevent construction of shelters or affordable housing in their communities. Homeless people are often denied opportunities to live in central locations; instead, they are compelled to live in remote, isolated and poorly serviced areas where there are no jobs.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Homelessness as a global human rights crisis that demands an urgent global response 2016, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- Beyond national measures of homelessness, there is also a need for global indicators. Addressing homelessness should be a central part of global development goals. While the Sustainable Development Goals omit any explicit reference to homelessness, target 11.1 of the Goals commits States to ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrading slums by 2030. Measuring and committing to reduce and eliminate homelessness with clear benchmarks and timelines will be critical to the successful realization of this target.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Homelessness as a global human rights crisis that demands an urgent global response 2016, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- There are, however, serious challenges in measuring homelessness, both within States and globally, that need to be addressed. It has proven difficult to secure accurate and comparable data from all States in order to develop reliable global data. The Statistics Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs has noted that data on the number of homeless households is scarce in all regions. Initiatives to count the number of homeless people have often emerged organically from local communities and address variable local conditions and challenges in different ways. Local governments, service providers, ombudspersons and human rights institutions can play important roles in ensuring that data are accurate and inclusive. This, however, makes it challenging to develop common measures across cities and internationally.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Homelessness as a global human rights crisis that demands an urgent global response 2016, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- Widespread and severe discrimination and stigmatization on the ground of homelessness has rarely been addressed effectively by national human rights institutions or subjected to effective judicial or administrative remedies, and only rarely recognized in domestic legislation as a prohibited form of discrimination.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Homelessness as a global human rights crisis that demands an urgent global response 2016, para. 91i
- Paragraph text
- [In line with the present conclusions, the Special Rapporteur offers the following recommendations to States:] National and local governments must re-engage and recommit to their role of providing social protection and ensuring access to affordable housing for marginalized and vulnerable groups, reaffirming that housing is a human right rather than a commodity. Subnational governments must have access to adequate resources to meet their allocated responsibilities;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The right to life and the right to adequate housing: the indivisibility and interdependence between these rights 2016, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- The European Committee of Social Rights has consistently emphasized that the "right to shelter is closely connected to the right to life and to the right to respect of every person's human dignity". In this context, it has not only addressed violations of rights linked to State action, such as evictions, but has issued far-reaching decisions regarding systemic violations and affirmed obligations to develop and implement national strategies and legislation to address homelessness and inadequate housing.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Homelessness as a global human rights crisis that demands an urgent global response 2016, para. 49e
- Paragraph text
- [State obligations in relation to homelessness have been clearly articulated and can be summarized as follows:] States have an immediate obligation to ensure that every decision or policy is consistent with the goal of the elimination of homelessness. Any decision that results in homelessness must be regarded as unacceptable and contrary to human rights. Policy and planning must apply the maximum of available resources, including unused or vacant lands and housing units, with a view to ensuring access to land and housing for marginalized groups;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The right to life and the right to adequate housing: the indivisibility and interdependence between these rights 2016, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- The starting point for understanding the scope of the right to life should be what rights holders are entitled to, not the cause of the deprivation. Homelessness and grossly inadequate housing may be the result of actions leading to eviction and deportation, but equally may result from inaction - a failure to address long-term systemic patterns of social exclusion and deprivation. Nevertheless, the deprivation experienced is essentially the same: preventable illnesses, a shortened lifespan and deprivation of dignity and security.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph