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Mapping and framing security of tenure 2013, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- At a more fundamental level, the above issues may require a paradigm shift away from correlating security of tenure with a property rights regime and towards the grounding of security of tenure solidly in the human rights framework. Related to this is the need to protect the right to adequate housing when it comes into conflict with the right to property. For instance, in the case of Modder East Squatters and Another v. Modderklip Boerdery (Pty) Ltd, involving an informal settlement located on private land, the Supreme Court of South Africa reconciled this conflict of law by ordering the State authorities to compensate the owner of the land for the costs associated with its occupation by the informal settlement until such time as the State authorities could provide alternative land for the residents of that settlement, thereby recognizing the rights of the community to adequate housing and to protection against illegal eviction. Modderklip demonstrates how individual property rights can interfere with, rather than enhance, tenure rights of others. It also demonstrates how such a conflict of rights can be reconciled. Such conflicts also take place between the rights of landlords and those of tenants.
- 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)
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Homelessness as a global human rights crisis that demands an urgent global response 2016, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- Homeless people have begun to reassert their identity through human rights claims through both social movements and legal action. In South Africa, the shack-dwellers' movement, Abahlali, has emerged as a vibrant social movement, claiming the right to housing through both legal and political means. In Uganda, the Uganda Network on Law, Ethics and HIV/AIDS provides free legal representation for homeless widows dispossessed of their homes and properties as a result of discriminatory property and inheritance laws. In the Simon Community in northern Belfast, homeless people, with the assistance of the organization Participation and the Practice of Rights, launched the Homelessness Action Charter to promote the human rights of homeless people. In Canada, homeless people and supportive organizations challenged as unconstitutional national and subnational governments' failure to effectively address homelessness, while simultaneously lobbying for legislation to create a national homelessness and housing strategy. In the United States, homeless peoples' organizations have systematically and successfully challenged laws and policies that criminalize homelessness and have lobbied for federal, State and municipal housing strategies. In El Salvador, local community members formed a national commission for residents to advocate for housing rights alongside other civil society organizations.
- 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)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Responsibilities of local and other subnational governments in relation to the right to adequate housing 2015, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Treaty bodies have also dealt with responsibilities of subnational governments in complaints procedures. For example, in Liliana Assenova Naidenova et al. v. Bulgaria (CCPR/C/106/D/2073/2011), a Roma community challenged a forced eviction initiated by the Sofia Metropolitan Municipality, Vuzrajdane subdistrict, acting independently of the national Government. The community was unsuccessful in challenging the eviction domestically, with the Sofia City Court determining that the eviction was lawful and the Supreme Administrative Court upholding that decision. The Human Rights Committee requested interim measures to stop the city from proceeding with the eviction and, after considering the communication on the merits, found that the State party would violate the petitioners' rights under article 17 of the Covenant if the eviction proceeded without the provision of adequate alternative accommodation for the community. The national Government used the Committee's decision to exert pressure on the Municipality to refrain from carrying out the eviction. Two years later, the permanent injunction remains in place and the community is in discussion with the municipal authorities on alternative 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)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Guiding Principles on security of tenure for the urban poor 2014, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- The assessments should be made public in an accessible format, including to settlement residents for discussion and verification. They should inform the preparation of citywide strategies for securing tenure for the different situations, with strong participation of residents.
- 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
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Reflection on work undertaken in first 14 years of the mandate; outline of opportunities and priorities 2014, para. 72
- Paragraph text
- Through consultations and expert meetings with national and international housing rights experts, government officials, United Nations agencies, civil society representatives and parliamentarians, the Special Rapporteur will develop a thematic report in which to identify and elaborate on the key characteristics required of national housing strategies based on human rights.
- 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)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Reflection on work undertaken in first 14 years of the mandate; outline of opportunities and priorities 2014, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- Drawing on the work on stigmatization and exclusion undertaken by her predecessor and other Special Rapporteurs, the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing intends to conduct research into the ways in which housing status is linked to criminalization, stigmatization and exclusion and how that problem can be addressed.
- 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
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Mapping and framing security of tenure 2013, para. 94
- Paragraph text
- In addition, disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation legislation, and measures such as planned relocation, natural hazard risk mapping and land zoning for residential housing, have been used to bypass eviction protections or may be phrased in a manner that could be misused to forcibly evict people.
- 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)
- Environment
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Mapping and framing security of tenure 2013, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- Any discussion of land and housing tenure needs to recognize the importance of cultural, historical and political contexts, and the specific legal systems in place. The particular combination of these specificities results in subtle differences in the way key terms and relationships are defined.
- 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
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Analysis of two alternative housing policies: rental and collective housing 2013, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- Problems have also emerged with regard to the location of housing units, some exacerbating exclusion and segregation. In countries like Chile, subsidized housing developments were built in the urban periphery where land costs were lowest, but which lacked adequate infrastructure, schools, health facilities, transportation and employment opportunities and were characterized by low habitability.
- 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)
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Analysis of two alternative housing policies: rental and collective housing 2013, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- While increasing access to homeownership for low-income households through credit has proved to lead to overindebtedness and housing crises, rental housing has the potential to promote a range of more affordable options, while reducing financial risk and enabling better mobility.
- 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
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Analysis of two alternative housing policies: rental and collective housing 2013, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- Most informal landlords let property that lacks a building license, do not issue written contracts, do not abide by rental and tax legislations and requirements, and in most cases are unaware(as are their tenants) of the existing relevant legislation.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 64.5
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations:] Communities and settlements, not just houses, should be rebuilt or resettled: Community structures and networks, to the extent that they respect international human rights standards including on gender equality, should be deliberately preserved and supported.
- 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)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 4
- Paragraph text
- In "hedge cities", prime destinations for global capital seeking safe havens for investments, housing prices have increased to levels that most residents cannot afford, creating huge increases in wealth for property owners in prime locations while excluding moderate- and low-income households from access to homeownership or rentals due to unaffordability. Those households are pushed to peri-urban areas with scant employment and services.
- 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)
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Homelessness as a global human rights crisis that demands an urgent global response 2016, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- The precariousness of informality and the prevalence of development-based evictions continue to be major structural causes of homelessness. Informal neighbourhoods are wiped out and replaced with high-end tourist attractions, shopping malls or entertainment districts. Land contamination and mismanagement compound these effects. Evictions without adequate resettlement, as is common, invariably lead to 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)
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- While much has been written about the financialization of housing, it has not often been considered from the standpoint of human rights. Decision-making and assessment of policies relating to housing and finance are devoid of reference to housing as a human right. Issues related to business and human rights have received some attention in recent years. However, the housing and real estate sector - the largest business sector with many of the most serious impacts on human rights - appears to have been mostly ignored.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- In many countries in the global South, where the majority of households are unlikely to have access to formal credit, the impact of financialization is experienced differently, but with a common theme - the subversion of housing and land as social goods in favour of their value as commodities for the accumulation of wealth, resulting in widespread evictions and displacement. Informal settlements are frequently replaced by luxury residential and high-end commercial real estate.
- 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)
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Homelessness as a global human rights crisis that demands an urgent global response 2016, para. 81
- Paragraph text
- There are diverse models for ensuring participation of stakeholders in strategies to address homelessness. Brazil, for example, has created a participatory model for social policy that relies on policy councils of stakeholders. In Munich, Germany, special units for the prevention of homelessness have provided support in preventing evictions or repossessions. In Europe, FEANTSA has organized and advanced rights claims on behalf of homeless people in a wide range of legal and political forums.
- 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)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Homelessness as a global human rights crisis that demands an urgent global response 2016, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- In many countries, social movements are incorporating legal strategies into broader political strategies to challenge homelessness and affirm the right to adequate housing. Abahlali baseMjondolo, the South African shack-dwellers' movement, and other organizations in South Africa have developed approaches to social mobilization linked to legal strategies to claim rights, without losing sight of the fundamentally political nature of the struggle for adequate 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)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Responsibilities of local and other subnational governments in relation to the right to adequate housing 2015, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- There are significant advantages to subnational governments developing such independent approaches. They are best placed to respond to the distinctive challenges of implementing the right to housing at the local level and to enable residents' empowerment and participation in local government. That offers an important foundation for community- based, human rights approaches to local governance and programme administration.
- 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
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Mapping and framing security of tenure 2013, para. 85
- Paragraph text
- Some innovative planning regulations exist to secure tenure for the most marginalized. A significant example is the Brazilian "Special Zones of Social Interest" (ZEIS). ZEIS is a planning instrument, based on the constitutional recognition of the social function of property, regulating the use and occupation, for social housing purposes, of public or private properties. It is used to recognize existing informal settlements as well as to define unoccupied areas of the city as areas for social 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)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Analysis of two alternative housing policies: rental and collective housing 2013, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- Critics of rent control and regulation claim that such measures produce inefficiencies, distort market values, reduce the housing supply and encourage corruption and low housing maintenance. Rent regulation has also been criticized for not targeting low-income households since controlled rents and protected tenancies usually favour those who have lived in rental housing for years over potential new tenants, and there is no mechanism to ensure that those benefitting from rent control are the low-income households.
- 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)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The impact of housing finance policies on the right to adequate housing of those living in poverty 2012, para. 71d
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur calls for a paradigm shift from housing policies based on the financialization of housing to a human rights-based approach to housing policies. In this context, she makes the following recommendations:] Housing policies should redress discrimination in access to adequate housing and promote the realization of the right to adequate housing for the most disadvantaged 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
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Centrality of the right to adequate housing for the development and implementation of the New Urban Agenda to be adopted at Habitat III in October 2016 2015, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- Housing status, such as being homeless or a "squatter" or a resident of an informal settlement, has become more than a marker of deprivation in cities. It has become a social identity that is often the basis for stigmatization and discrimination, limiting opportunities and creating further obstacles to inclusion and equality.
- 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
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Analysis of two alternative housing policies: rental and collective housing 2013, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- However, in the absence of land planning and regulations, a large amount of subsidies available in the housing market has led to significant increases in land and housing prices, a general problem of affordability for low-income households and long waiting lists.
- 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)
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- In response to the mortgage crisis in Spain, the autonomous regions of Andalusia and Catalonia introduced progressive laws explicitly affirming the social function of housing and facilitating temporary expropriation of vacant housing. Catalonian legislation also prohibited foreclosures and evictions that would result in homelessness. Both of those regional initiatives were struck down by the Constitutional Court as encroaching on the jurisdiction of the national Government and opposing the general economic interests of the country. In response, at least in the case of Catalonia, the legislation was reintroduced with amendments and was passed by the Catalonian parliament.
- 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)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- Informal settlements in Southern cities are regularly demolished for luxury housing and commercial development such as shopping malls and other high-end services intended for those with expendable incomes. In Lagos, Nigeria, for example, 30,000 residents of the Otodo Gbame community were forcibly removed after their waterfront homes were set alight, allegedly related to luxury developments. Many were left homeless. Elsewhere, when informal settlements are upgraded with infrastructure development and the granting of formal title and credit, they become subject to speculation and rising costs that force existing residents, particularly informal renters, out of the community. The real estate market in Mumbai, India, is now actively engaged in promoting speculative investment in informal settlements, where upgraded housing is attracting real estate speculation and price increases.
- 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
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph