Statement by Leilani Farha "A Step in the Rights Direction: Housing in the New Urban Context" at the 3rd European Forum on Housing

Berlin, Germany

November 18, 2015

Distinguished participants,

I am very pleased to help you launch the European Housing Forum.  I am the Special Rapporteur on the right to housing, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council.  Obviously my chief concern is whether housing is being enjoyed as a human right and to what extent.

I am honoured to be included in your discussions as I am deeply concerned by the pressures in Europe at this very particular point in its socio-economic history and the impact of those pressures on housing. From my vantage point what I see are unprecedented challenges coalescing at once:

• The collapse of the real estate market that crippled many economies
• The influx of thousands of refugees hoping to build a new life and establish security, with an estimated 750,000 refugees and migrants having arrived into Europe in the last year.
• Issues associated with urbanization – with almost 75% of people in Europe living in cities, comparable to global trends
• Rising rates of homelessness and housing precarity in many cities.
• Social exclusion of migrants and refugees through the creation of ghettoes dislocated from city centres and the essentials offered by cities including employment opportunities.
• Youth unemployment across the region that is at least double national averages – lending itself to young people having to remain at home for longer periods, putting increasing pressure on parental households.
• Foreign investment in land and property making housing virtually unaffordable for those with few means

What concerns me about each of these challenges and their convergence is the pressure European states will be under to at times act quickly, cut corners and engage in housing and related policy that deviates from human rights standards and norms and that in fact contributes to ongoing social exclusion and marginalization of particular groups that is extremely costly –financially and socially – and that in the long run can have very serious repercussions.

What is happening across Europe right now with respect to housing now is incredibly complex. And when things are that complex I think it is useful to go back to first principles. Signposts that have stood the test of time. I think as Europe moves forward to address these many and competing issues, relying on human rights principles and standards will ensure consistency across policy decisions and a clear way and basis upon which to move forward.

Human Rights as a framework:

Let me remind you of what the right to adequate housing looks like under international human rights law, and what it offers us as, we set about addressing issues like housing affordability, sustainability and liveability and the many complex issues I listed earlier.

Housing is a cornerstone right, indivisible from and integral to all other rights.  Narrow interpretations that focus on housing as a commodity or housing that only provides a roof over one’s head have been rejected under international human rights law. Rather, the right to housing has long been understood as the right to live somewhere in peace, security and dignity, without discrimination.

The central role housing can play in a society has never been clearer than it is today, especially in Europe. Where and how people live can have huge implications for how they view themselves in relation to others in their community. Forced to the margins in terms of housing, marginalization can become a central characteristic with far larger implications moving well beyond housing.

Beyond walls and a roof, the right to adequate housing under international human rights law requires that housing be affordable, including the costs associate with housing like water and sanitation, electricity, and heating.

International human rights law doesn’t provide a prescription as to what percentage of income should be spent on housing costs.  But under IHRL the right to housing implies that affordability will not only be answered through the development of social housing – which is all too often how it characterized. It is equally about ensuring the rules of the market conform with international human rights law. The right to adequate housing places an onus on National and subnational governments to regulate markets to ensure the right to adequate housing can be enjoyed by the most marginalized. For example, progressive property tax systems, mixed income with cross-subsidization to support affordable housing.

Before I turn to a more forward looking agenda, let me remind you of the particular strengths of integrating a human rights framework in into housing and related policy:

The rights to adequate housing and to non-discrimination are themselves transformational. They compel us to look at the systems and processes through which vulnerable groups suffer disadvantage, and then beg the development of solutions that will address those causes.

Unlike most frameworks, a human rights framework is very clear about who is accountable for what.  It clarifies roles and responsibilities of governments as duty bearers. This can be particularly important with respect to sub-national and local governments who increasingly bear greater responsibility with regards to housing and human rights implementation, but often find themselves challenged in terms of capacity, knowledge and resources.

National and local governments are critical in ensuring that access to adequate, affordable, well-located housing, near essential services and facilities is viewed as a priority over market forces acting with impunity.

At the same time, a human rights perspective requires regulation and control of the actions or omissions of third parties, such as real estate companies, investors, banks and others involved in developments that may be the critical reason for evictions and displacement, as well as for speculation and gentrification in cities.

The right to housing demands a people-centred approach. It takes as its starting point the capacities of those who are homeless or living in inadequate housing to become both central agents and prioritized stakeholders of housing policy and programmes. These groups must be meaningfully consulted, have access to relevant information in a timely fashion and be included in planning, design and implementation of public policies. The right to housing – with its tentacles into a variety of areas – economic/financial, health, education, employment – engenders new social, economic and political relationships through which rights holders may be empowered to define and claim their rights and effect social and political change necessary for their realization.

Looking Forward

Many European countries are not only aware of their international human rights obligations, but are also leaders in promoting rights, particularly the right to housing.  A number of states have laws respecting the right to housing, have human rights in constitutions, and have created national housing and homeless strategies grounded in human rights.  And, as you are no doubt aware, the European Union has a number of mechanisms that help interpret human rights obligations, protect the right to housing and other human rights, as well as offer access to justice for rights violations.

What concerns me is that Europe continues to both improve its own record regarding the implementation of the right to housing, while also being a leader on the world stage.

The international community has an opportunity on the horizon to grapple with the many housing and related issues facing Europe right now and that I referenced at the beginning of my speech.  And they have an opportunity to reaffirm and embrace the ever-evolving human rights framework, to ensure that no matter the phenomenon – whether it be the mortgage crisis or the refugee crisis – our responses secure rights for the most disadvantaged.

The opportunity I am referring to in particular is the UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, also known as Habitat III, which will be held in Quito, Ecuador in October 2016. Habitat III will be the first global summit of the twenty-first century with housing and urban challenges in the spotlight. It will also be the first global summit following the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (now referred to as 2030 Agenda). While the SDGs took the first step in demonstrating international commitment to addressing housing and urban challenges, Habitat III will be crucial in defining concrete frameworks and approaches to achieve these goals and targets.  

And it is important that we see the connections between the SDGs and Habitat III.

As some of you will know, the SDGs did not contain a specific Goal on housing nor any reference to the right to housing, though they do include references to other relevant rights like an adequate standard of living and equality. Despite this absence in the Goals, there is a target that is essential to our work on housing.

Under Goal 11, target 11.1 aims to provide access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services by 2030. This is an incredibly ambitious goal, especially in light of the fact that over 1 billion people are living in inadequate housing and/or are homeless. In other words, the SDGs commit states to ending homelessness and ensuring adequate housing for everyone in 15 years. Ambitious. Doable, especially in the context of Europe.

So far, in the lead up to Habitat III there have been scant references to the right to housing, despite the strong inclusion of a rights framework in the Habitat Agenda from 20 years ago. That being said, Habitat III is the right place at the right time to concretize, and elaborate upon target 11.1 of the SDGs.

The transformative capacity of human rights to address structural causes of disadvantage and ensure the most vulnerable are not rendered more vulnerable, makes it essential to use a human rights framework to move forward on urban agenda if we want to address the main issues currently facing cities and States.

If the goal of housing policy is to ensure adequate housing for all, to offer safe and secure spaces where families can grow, communities flourish and people live in dignity, then we must look at human rights and ensure they are at the foundation of current, and future, policy-making.

An Urban Rights Agenda

In my view, the challenge of Habitat III is to base the outcome document - the new urban agenda – in an updated and more dynamic understanding of the right to adequate housing. Habitat III is the right space at the right time to embrace and articulate a new human rights framework for cities. I am calling for the adoption of an urban rights agenda and within this the right to adequate housing and associated obligations of all relevant actors must be clearly articulated and firmly rooted.

Habitat III presents an opportunity to unify diverse aspects of fiscal and housing policy under a human rights framework. Bridging affordability, sustainability and liveability and charting a common path for States to follow, what I am calling an  “Urban Rights Agenda”, allowing rights holders to be empowered to define and claim their rights and effect social and political change necessary for their realization.

An Urban Rights Agenda understands that housing is more than a commodity. Unless the primacy of human rights over market forces and private profit is entrenched, urban development that reduces inequalities and is based on inclusion and sustainability will be unachievable.

But perhaps most importantly, an Urban Rights Agenda it will require a shift in priorities, and in the allocation of resources, and the recognition of all members of society as legitimate participants in the decision-making process, including those who are marginalized.

In my work, I have found that there is tremendous capacity for creativity and innovation at the local level, which makes local governments ripe for the adoption of a different approach to the challenges they are facing.

I think as we move forward we need to face housing related challenges with a new boldness and commitment to ensuring the well-being of the most disadvantaged as the goal. 

At Habitat III, I would like to see States commit to ensuring the incorporation of the right to adequate housing and other human rights as paramount elements of all urban law, policy and programmes, including fiscal policy, resource allocation and land management. I would like states to make real commitments to ensuring security of tenure for all households, including all residents of informal settlements. 

I would like States to expressly commit to the elimination of homelessness by 2030 –with its direct links to affordability issues as one of the most egregious systemic violations of the right to adequate housing in cities.

And I would like States to be required to develop a national housing strategy in collaboration with all relevant stakeholders that outlines an action-plan to meet each of these commitments progressively using all available resources.

We need to believe that the so-called impossible is indeed possible. Otherwise, we will settle for less than we can achieve.  

Thank you.

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