United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing’s working definition of the human right to adequate housing is the right of every woman, man, youth and child to gain and sustain a secure home and community in which to live in peace and dignity.

Worldwide, there are at least 100 million people living with no shelter at all, with between 30-70 million children living on the streets. Distressed housing can take many forms, including: slums and squatter settlements, old buses, shipping containers, pavements, railway platforms, streets and roadside embankments, cellars, staircases, elevator enclosures, cages, cardboard boxes, plastic sheets and aluminum and tin shelters.

A primary, guiding text on the right to adequate housing is article 11(1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which provides, “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.”  

As clarified by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, the right does not imply that:

• the State is required to build housing for the entire population;
• housing is to be provided free of charge by the State to all who request it;
• the State must necessarily fulfil all aspects of this right immediately upon assuming duties to do so;
• the State should exclusively entrust either itself or the unregulated market to ensuring this right to all; or
• this right will manifest itself in precisely the same manner in all circumstances or locations.

Minimum Core Content

States parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rightsbear non-derogable core obligations with respect to the right to adequate housing. Adequate housing, at minimum, requires:

• legal security of tenure including legal protection against forced evictions;
• availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure;
• affordability;
• habitability (e.g., adequate privacy, security, lighting and ventilation);
• accessibility for disadvantaged groups;
• adequate location with regard to work and basic facilities; and
• cultural adequacy (see Module 17 on “Cultural Rights” from Circle of Rights).

Two important quantifying and qualifying tools that are useful when monitoring service delivery on the right to adequate housing include the:

• Revised Guidelines Regarding the Form and Contents of Report to be submitted by States Parties under Articles 16 and 17 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
• Housing Rights Barometer

Housing Rights Dossier

• Habitat International Coalition Legal Sources of the Human Right to Housing
• Article 11(1) of International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
• Paragraph 39 of the Habitat Agenda for the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements
• Paragraph 27 of the U.N. General Assembly Resolution A/RES/S-27/2, “A World Fit for Children
• Paragraphs 8,33,48-49, 81, 92, 100, 102, 108 of the Declaration and Programme of Action of the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance
• General Recommendation Number 18 of Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women on Disabled Women
• Paragraph 5, Commission Resolution 2001/34 on Women’s Equal Ownership of, Access to and Control Over Land and the Equal Rights to Own Property and to Adequate Housing
• Article 25(1) of Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Article 14(2) of Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
• Articles 16(1), 27(3) of Convention on the Rights of the Child
• Article 21 of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
• Article 5(e)(iii) of International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
• Article 17(1) of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
• Article 43(1) of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families
• Principle 4 of the Declaration on the Rights of the Child
• ILO Recommendation Number 115 Concerning Worker’s Housing
• part 2, Article 10 of Declaration on Social Progress and Development
• Article 9 of Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons
• Section 3.8, Chapter 2.A.3 of the Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlements
• Article 9(2) of the Declaration on Race and Racial Prejudice
• Article 8(1) of the Declaration on the Right to Development
• Global Strategy for Shelter to the Year 2000
• ILO Recommendation Concerning Worker’s Housing
• Declaration on Cities and Other Human Settlements in the New Millennium
• Comprehensive Human Rights Guidelines on Development-Based Displacements

Potential Right to Housing Violations

Some potential right to housing violations include:

• forced evictions (See Fact Sheet 25 - Forced Evictions and Human Rights, Forcibly_Evicted_Persons, Violence: The Impact of Forced Evictions on Women in Palestine, India and Nigeria, and Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights General Comment Number 7).
• social housing shortages for single-parent and low-income families
• housing discrimination
• lack of a coherent national strategy regarding housing rights

Key Housing Rights Developments and Sample Best Practices

Significant advances toward the full realization of the right to adequate housing continue to be made. Some initial resources on the right are:

• Special Rapporteur Reports and Statements
• Module 13 of Circle of Rights on “The Right to Adequate Housing”
• Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation
• United Nations Office of the High Commission for Human Rights’ website on Housing
• Habitat International Coalition Tool Kit
• Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE)
• Government of the Republic of South Africa, et al. v. Irene Grootboom, et al.
• The Applicability of the Prevention of Illegal Eviction Act: Ndlovu v. Ngobo and Bekker & Bosch v. Jika

The following case studies and summaries illustrate how human rights defenders have used the ESC rights approach to promote and protect the right to adequate housing:

• Shantistar Builders v. Narayan Khimali Tatome and Others Case Summary
• African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights Decision on Communication 155/96 The Social and Economic Rights Action Center and the Center for Economic and Social Rights / Nigeria Case Summary
• L.K v. Netherlands
• The Maroko Community’s Quest for Resettlement, Rehabilitation and Recompensation
• Sandra Lovelace v. Canada
• L.K v. Netherlands

General Comments on the Right to Housing and Forced Evictions

• General Comment Number 4: The Right to Adequate Housing
• General Comment Number 7: Forced Evictions