Right to housing
The Right to housing is the idea that everyone should have the possibility to live somewhere, to housing and shelter free from homelessness. Many countries recognise it. It is also in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This means it is part of international law.
Definition
The base for the right to housing in international law can be found in Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The declaration recognises the right as part of the right to an adequate standard of living.
It states that:
Article 11 (1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) also guarantees the right to housing as part of the right to an adequate standard of living among economic, social and cultural rights.
In international human rights law the right to housing is regarded as a freestanding right. This was clarified in the 1991 General Comment no 4 on Adequate Housing by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The general comment provides an authoritative interpretation of the right to housing in legal terms under international law.
The right to housing is also mentioned in Article 28 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Article 16 of the European Social Charter (Article 31 of the Revised European Social charter) and in the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. According to UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, aspects of right to housing under ICESCR include: legal security of tenure; availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure; affordability; habitability; accessibility; location and cultural adequacy. As a political goal, right to housing was declared in F. D. Roosevelt' s 1944 speech on the Second Bill of Rights.
References
Housing
Human rights