The right to adequate housing

The right to adequate housing is a basic human right which is an integral part of the right to adequate standard of living under the United Declaration of Human Rights on 1948.

“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.”

It is also recognized in the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on 1966.

“The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. The States Parties will take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right, recognizing to this effect the essential importance of international co-operation based on free consent.”

According to the Factsheet 21 of the United Nation’s Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, “The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has underlined that the right to adequate housing should not be interpreted  narrowly. Rather, it should be seen as the right to live somewhere in security, peace and dignity. The characteristics of the right to adequate housing are clarified mainly in the Committee’s general comments No. 4 (1991) on the right to adequate housing and No. 7 (1997) on forced evictions.

The right to adequate housing contains freedoms. These freedoms include:

            Protection against forced evictions and the arbitrary destruction and demolition of one’s home;

            The right to be free from arbitrary interference with one’s home, privacy and family; and

            The right to choose one’s residence, to determine where to live and to freedom of movement.

The right to adequate housing contains entitlements. These entitlements include:

            Security of tenure;

            Housing, land and property restitution;

            Equal and non-discriminatory access to adequate housing;

            Participation in housing-related decision-making at the national and community levels.

Adequate housing must provide more than four walls and a roof. A number of conditions must be met before particular forms of shelter can be considered to constitute “adequate housing.” These elements are just as fundamental as the basic supply and availability of housing. For housing to be adequate, it must, at a minimum, meet the following criteria:

            Security of tenure: housing is not adequate if its occupants do not have a degree of tenure security which guarantees legal protection against forced evictions, harassment and other threats.

            Availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure: housing is not adequate if its occupants do not have safe drinking water, adequate sanitation, energy for cooking, heating, lighting, food storage or refuse disposal.

            Affordability: housing is not adequate if its cost threatens or compromises the occupants’ enjoyment of other human rights.

            Habitability: housing is not adequate if it does not guarantee physical safety or provide adequate space, as well as protection against the cold, damp, heat, rain, wind, other threats to health and structural hazards.

            Accessibility: housing is not adequate if the specific needs of disadvantaged and marginalized groups are not taken into account.

            Location: housing is not adequate if it is cut off from employment opportunities, health-care services, schools, childcare centres and other social facilities, or if located in polluted or dangerous areas.

            Cultural adequacy: housing is not adequate if it does not respect and take into account the expression of cultural identity”