Housing Rights Research Articles

The Concept and Problems of Legal Regulation of Housing Legal Relationship

Introduction: despite the fact that the Housing Code of the Russian Federation defines the housing rights of citizens and names the grounds for their occurrence, there is no consensus in the scientific literature on which rights arising from housing relations regulated by the housing legislation are housing rights and what their legal nature and system are. The paper discusses various definitions of the concept of housing relations. The main problems of the legal regulation of housing relations at the present stage are analyzed. Purpose: to analyze the definition and grounds for the emergence of housing rights and determine their legal nature and system. When writing, the methods of formal logic were used: analysis, synthesis, generalization, comparison, and a systematic approach was applied to the study of the problem of the legal regulation of housing legal relationships. Results: the paper analyzes the problems of legal regulation of objects of housing legal relations. Conclusions: atypicality of housing rights was revealed; the specific features of housing rights were disclosed; problems of legal regulation of housing rights were identified; ways to solve them were proposed.

Norita is the first of many self-managed community neighbourhoods to come: A conversation with organizers and residents of Barrio Norita Cortiñas in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area (Part II)

These two conversations with organizers and residents of Barrio Norita Cortiñas in Buenos Aires reflect the ongoing struggle for housing rights in Argentina. The discussions detail the development of the self-managed community, which emerged from land occupations in Guernica during the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants highlight the collective efforts to secure land through self-organization and assembly-based decision-making, ultimately purchasing land to establish a neighbourhood for 62 families. The conversations explore the obstacles faced, including government repression, real estate speculation, and economic challenges, while also emphasizing the critical role of feminist leadership and multisectoral collaboration in their fight for land and housing rights. Additionally, the residents connect their local struggle to broader national and international movements for land reclamation and workers' rights. This underscores the urgency of solidarity and collective action in confronting neoliberal policies and housing precarity.

Norita is the first of many self-managed community neighbourhoods to come: A conversation with organizers and residents of Barrio Norita Cortiñas in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area (Part II)

These two conversations with organizers and residents of Barrio Norita Cortiñas in Buenos Aires reflect the ongoing struggle for housing rights in Argentina. The discussions detail the development of the self-managed community, which emerged from land occupations in Guernica during the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants highlight the collective efforts to secure land through self-organization and assembly-based decision-making, ultimately purchasing land to establish a neighbourhood for 62 families. The conversations explore the obstacles faced, including government repression, real estate speculation, and economic challenges, while also emphasizing the critical role of feminist leadership and multisectoral collaboration in their fight for land and housing rights. Additionally, the residents connect their local struggle to broader national and international movements for land reclamation and workers' rights. This underscores the urgency of solidarity and collective action in confronting neoliberal policies and housing precarity.

Single Mothers Association of Kenya (SMAK) and the Fight to Stay Put on the Ziwani Estate in Nairobi

This Reflection discusses the fight to stay put on the Ziwani Estate in Nairobi, in the face of the redevelopment (gentrification) of one of the first East African public housing projects developed in Kenya under colonial rule. The Single Mothers Association of Kenya (SMAK), a community-based organization founded on the Ziwani Estate, is leading the fight for/with Ziwani residents. SMAK is focused on land and housing rights, capacity building for the community on these rights, advocating against illegal eviction, and fighting against gentrification, densification, and homelessness. Under immediate threat SMAK found local and global allies in academia, civil society, and in UN bodies. They have had some important wins on the preservation and conservation of Ziwani historic places and people based on unexpected academic collaborations and on their own activism which they believe requires civic education, domestic and international lobbying, and possibly legal struggle.

Lovely tents: a Jewish ecospiritual perspective on urban homeless encampments

ABSTRACT Engaging with Jewish texts through a lens of ecospiritual social work provides a framework to incorporate housing rights and homelessness into ecospirituality. This article deploys a Jewish Ecospirituality perspective to consider the issue of urban homeless encampments as a spiritual and environmental justice issue. This article incorporates biblical interpretation and ecospiritual perspectives to situate a Jewish understanding of ecospirituality. It draws connections between the diasporic history of the Jewish people and the displacement found in urban park encampments utilizing Jewish environmental ethics and ecospiritual social work theory to deconstruct the rightful use of public space in the context of urban citizenship.

Problems of determining the system of forms, methods and means of housing rights’ civil protection

Problems of determining the system of forms, methods and means of housing rights’ civil protection

Participation of the Prosecutor’s Office in the Protection of Socio-economic Rights of Citizens in Bankruptcy Cases: the Problem of Procedural Interaction with Arbitration Courts

The analysis of the legal basis for the participation of the prosecutor’s office in court proceedings in order to protect the most important socio-economic rights of citizens, such as labor and housing rights, in bankruptcy cases. The research focuses on the Russian and Chinese practice of procedural interaction between the prosecutor’s office and the courts in bankruptcy cases. Based on a comparative legal analysis, the author assesses the trend towards increasing the activity of the Russian prosecutor’s office to participate in arbitration proceedings as promising, but requiring regulatory legalization in order to increase the effectiveness of protecting the socio-economic rights of citizens. In order to effectively ensure legality in the field of bankruptcy, it is necessary to legislate the participation of the prosecutor in part 5 of Article 52 of the Arbitration Procedural Code of the Russian Federation for cases when bankruptcy arbitration cases affect not only housing, but also the labor rights of citizens.

Adequate housing as a social determinant of the health of international migrants and locals in Chile between 2013 and 2022

BackgroundAdequate housing is a fundamental right and a social determinant of health. It also represents a historically contentious topic in Latin America. Migratory flows to Chile have become increasingly precarious in the past few years, limiting opportunities for adequate housing, with potential repercussions on the health of international migrants and the general population. This study aims to analyse adequate housing as a social determinant of health among international migrants and locals between 2013 and 2022 in Chile.MethodsObservational cross-sectional study based on repeated versions of the nationally representative Socioeconomic Characterization Survey in Chile. Adequate housing indicators adapted from the United Nations Housing Rights Programme guidelines were analyzed with relation to individual health, distinguishing between the local and international migrant populations. Logistic regression models were fitted for housing indicators with migration as the main independent variable and for short-term and long-term healthcare needs in locals and immigrants with housing as the main dependent variables. Models were adjusted for sociodemographic variables and considered the complex sample design.ResultsDescriptive findings indicated higher availability of services and infrastructure among international migrants, and a disadvantage for habitability, location, and affordability by quintiles compared to locals. Logistic regression models, adjusting for demographic variables, revealed significant associations between migration status and overcrowding (OR 6.14, 2022), poor housing materiality (OR 5.65, 2022) and proximity to healthcare centres (OR 1.4, 2022) compared to locals. Experiencing hazardous situations consistently predicted short-term healthcare needs in both migrants (OR = 1.4, 2022) and locals (OR = 2.8, 2022). Overcrowding predicted both long and short-term healthcare needs among locals across the years and long term needs among migrants in 2013 and 2015.ConclusionsWe found significant inequities in adequate housing between migrant populations and locals in Chile, and some inequities among both populations based on structural socioeconomic deprivation. Experiencing hazardous situations emerged as a social determinant of health among international migrants in 2022, potentially suggesting growing challenges related to social exclusion in urban areas. However, limitations such as exclusion criteria of the survey and sample sizes for data on the migrant population potentially suggest that housing challenges and their impact on health are underestimated.

From Bangladesh Colony to Shanthinagar: housing rights, sexuality, and consumption in Keralam

As the developmental state attempted to transform the urban slum in Kerala into a model housing colony, narratives of decency, self-restraint, and sexual discipline became crucial for securing housing rights in the transformed space. ‘Bad’ and ‘good’ consumption; ‘bad’ and ‘good’ poor and images of ‘normality’ and the ‘normal home’ as the abode of the ideal citizen and worker were some of the strategies deployed by the residents of the Bangladesh Colony to encounter the quotidian world of moral non-acceptance. This article examines how neoliberal articulation of rights through government projects often have contradictory effects on the lives of differently positioned women. The moral economy of consumption hinders the realization of the neoliberal ideal of the consumer-citizen. Practices considered as ‘excess’ in consumption by female sex workers were perceived as a threat to this slum community lying on the urban margins, resulting in their expulsion. The article integrates theories of urban assemblage and queer temporality to understand how women sex workers resisted such expulsions. These theories converge on the notion of excess/abundance. Abundance of relationships, of political alliances and strategies, of consumption practices—exceeding heteronormative ideals—was deployed by women sex workers to resist their erasure and confinement into any single identity.

DID INDIA EVER HAVE A RIGHT TO THE CITY MOVEMENT? Rethinking Housing Justice in Violent Times

AbstractIn this article I look into the weakening state of housing justice in India, especially in the context of the Covid‐19 pandemic and increased state violence. I ask how and why housing rights in India have mostly remained limited in their approach without being able to demand broader access to the city through right to the city discourse. In trying to find answers to this question, I examine housing rights activism in India historically. I show how, while some movements and campaigns organically began to make such broader claims without even invoking the term ‘right to the city’, these efforts were short‐lived and those spaces were taken up by policymakers and courts. In this article I trace how a relative absence of a political language and movements’ growing proximity to the policy world has shaped a very particular trajectory of housing rights in India. Within the context of this relative absence of a right to the city discourse even quiet encroachments of the poor have failed to claim their moral right to the city. In this moment, as the Indian state takes a more hostile turn towards the poor and to civil‐society organizations, I argue that it may be time to rethink ways of bringing back housing to the centre of political struggles in India.

빈집정비사업에 대한 공법적 검토

The recent issues of population decline due to aging and low birth rates have led to an increase in unoccupied houses. This increase is associated with higher crime rates, deteriorating residential environments, urban slums, imbalances in the real estate market, and environmental problems. The necessity of unoccupied house improvement has been raised, yet public law reviews on this matter remain insufficient. The concept of unoccupied houses includes both usable and unusable houses, which vary according to the investigation period and methods. Demolition targets include unusable unoccupied houses classified as Grade 3 under the ｢ACT ON SPECIAL CASES CONCERNING UNOCCUPIED HOUSE OR SMALL-SCALE HOUSING IMPROVEMENT｣ or as ‘specific unoccupied houses’ under the ｢AGRICULTURAL AND FISHING VILLAGES IMPROVEMENT ACT｣. The constitutional basis for the demolition of unoccupied houses includes the state's coordination and intervention duties under the principle of the social state, Article 122 of the Constitution, and the housing rights of neighbor of unoccupied houses. Especially, the conflict between the housing rights of neighbor and the property rights of unoccupied house owners(conflicts between fundamental rights) is transformed into a constitutional review issue as the legislator introduced a demolition system that limits the property rights of unoccupied house owners. The most important perspective in the constitutional review is adherence to the principle of proportionality, and demolition and compensation must be carried out under stricter standards, shifting from ensuring the existence of property rights to guaranteeing their value. The management and improvement obligations of unoccupied house owners are specified in the ｢AGRICULTURAL AND FISHING VILLAGES IMPROVEMENT ACT｣ but not in the ｢ACT ON SPECIAL CASES CONCERNING UNOCCUPIED HOUSE OR SMALL-SCALE HOUSING IMPROVEMENT｣. Based on the constitutional duty of property rights for public welfare and social constraints, owners may bear police responsibilities under public law, but this needs to be explicitly stated in the law. Such regulations on the responsibilities of unoccupied house owners can serve as the legal basis for enforcement fines and potentially a future unoccupied house tax when demolition orders are issued. Local governments' ex officio demolition of unoccupied houses is deemed an administrative execution. However, demolition orders for unoccupied houses are only feasible in cases involving substantial illegality, such as when legal buildings are abandoned for extended periods, resulting in significant harm to residents. In this context, recognizing the process of becoming substantially illegal should be strictly judged under the principle of proportionality. Compensation for the demolition of unoccupied houses is challenging to include in traditional public law compensation, thus falling under special public loss compensation recognized by the legislature through special laws. The compensation amount for demolition is determined as the arithmetic average of the amounts appraised by two appraisers. Issues concerning offsetting demolition costs highlight that compensation amounts can vary between voluntary demolition and enforced demolition by administrative execution, necessitating objective standards for demolition costs offset by administrative authorities.

공동거주자 간 법익의 공평한 향유와 주거침입죄 - 구성요건적 행위 판단의 요소인 ‘주거권자의 의사’를 중심으로 -

The protection legal interest of housing intrusion should be enjoyed fairly by all joint residential rights holders, and the consent of the residential rights holder to the infringement of legal interests is limited to his or her own legal interests, and there is no right to dispose of the legal interests of other joint residential rights. Therefore, even with the consent of some residential rights holders, if it is contrary to the will of other residential rights holders, the crime of invasion of housing may be established. However, just because there was an opposition from the residential right holder does not always mean that it is a constituent requirement of the crime of invasion of housing. The need for criminal protection of dissenting opinions can be recognized on the basis of fair enjoyment of legal interests. If the establishment of a crime of invasion of housing is recognized as the legitimate enjoyment of legal interests of other residential rights holders, it is an abuse of housing rights and unreasonably restricts the enjoyment of legitimate legal interests to housing intrusion. The intention may be explicit, implied, or presumed. The important point is that the need for criminal protection can only be recognized when the intention of the residential right holder enables fair enjoyment of legal interests between residential right holders based on the typicality of the space. “Conflict of opinions between co-residents on outsiders' access to housing” issue will not be resolved by changing the concept of invasion of housing, as in the case of the en banc decision, but acknowledges the need for criminal protection in the will of the residential right holder based on the fair enjoyment of legal interests. Inviting guests to the residence is the legitimate legal interest of the residential right holder, and the establishment of the residential intrusion crime cannot be recognized by estimating the opposition, which is an element of judgment of 'invasion', which is a constituent act of the residential intrusion crime, according to specific and individual circumstances. A residence is a private space that is disconnected from the outside, and although the opposition to outsiders' access is presumed, it is also a place where guests can be invited to enter at any time. Mutual understanding of this is premised on communal living. Can it be said that the husband's opposition to the wife's boyfriend, who entered the apartment for the purpose of extramarital relationship, is presumed? If the objection is presumed, what is the basis for it? In order to see only the entry and exit for the purpose of extramarital relations differently, it is possible only when the formality of the “fence of the permanent marriage community” is recognized only for the residence of a couple. So far, we've been talking about the “invasion.” I would like to guess if the Supreme Court, which has consistently been criticized for infringement of intentions, forcibly abolished the theory of infringement of intentions and changed it to the theory of infringement of tranquility was an attempt to overcome the intuition and ambiguity of ethical violations.

Reasonableness Review and Proportionality Analysis in the ICESCR : Reviewing Spanish Housing Rights Cases

Reasonableness Review and Proportionality Analysis in the ICESCR : Reviewing Spanish Housing Rights Cases

Protection of housing rights of Ukrainian citizens in conditions of armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine

Protection of housing rights of Ukrainian citizens in conditions of armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine

Assessment of Stakeholders’ Engagement and Participation in Mass Housing Development

This paper examines stakeholder engagement and participation in mass housing development projects within Abuja's Public-Private Partnership (PPP) initiatives. Through case studies of prominent projects like Sunnyvale Estate, Garki II District Development, and the Life Camp Extension Project, it aims to explore the multifaceted roles of government agencies, private entities, local communities, residents, and the limited involvement of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and advocacy groups. Drawing from extensive literature, the study delves into the theoretical underpinnings of stakeholder engagement within the context of Public-Private Partnerships and housing development, emphasizing the importance of transparency, accountability, and social acceptance. Methodologically, the study adopts a qualitative approach, employing case studies and literature review to analyze the extent of stakeholder involvement in Abuja's mass housing projects, with a focus on government agencies, private developers, local communities, residents, and NGOs. Results and discussion underscore the significant roles played by government agencies and private developers in driving housing development projects, while also acknowledging the active participation of local communities and residents. However, the limited involvement of NGOs and advocacy groups poses challenges to achieving inclusive and sustainable housing solutions in Abuja. In conclusion, the paper emphasizes the importance of enhancing stakeholder engagement and participation to address Abuja's housing challenges effectively, advocating for transparency, accountability, and inclusivity in future PPP housing projects. Recommendations include prioritizing community involvement in decision-making processes, adopting socially responsible practices by private developers, and strengthening the role of NGOs and advocacy groups in advocating for housing rights and social equity.

축소사회에서의 주거권 및 주거정책에 대한 고찰

Housing rights simultaneously embody the characteristics of civil, environmental, and social rights. From a social rights perspective, these rights, involving significant state financial investment, are often referred to as the right to survival that relies on state finances. It is a natural conclusion that alleviating floor area ratio restrictions to attract market funding while reducing the state’s financial burden is an effective way to supply rental housing and similar facilities. As society transitions into a shrinking one, significant concerns arise about the current generation’s consideration of future generations. In this context, uniform mass production and consumption-based developmental strategies are no longer valid or practical. Supply-oriented housing development can deprive future generations of developmental opportunities, severely undermining their housing rights. Current generations exploiting the floor area ratio may diminish development profitability for future generations, ultimately rendering development unfeasible. This is where the floor area ratio becomes a point of contention between current and future generations. The Transfer of Development Rights(‘TDR’) system enables landowners who cannot fully utilize their floor area ratio to transfer their “unused” floor area ratio to a third party, allowing that party to pursue high-density development. The TDR system is crucial for fostering equity between current and future generations while maintaining the total of overall floor area ratio. Moreover, it holds significant value in realizing housing rights within today’s shrinking society.

Evidential approach to affordable housing programme development: an Ontario case study

Housing affordability is a global crisis. UN Habitat estimated in 2020 that 80% of global cities do not have affordable housing options for the majority of their population; the World Economic Forum estimates a need for an extra two billion homes over the next 75 years (96,000 completions per day). The Canadian Centre for Housing Rights points to a confluence of economic, social and governmental factors created today’s homelessness and affordability issues. In Q3 2022, The Royal Bank of Canada reported that 62.7% of Ontarians' household income goes towards the cost of home ownership, skewed by 85.2% in Toronto. Traditional affordable housing models aren’t working. A 2023 Ontario regional affordable housing feasibility study provided the opportunity for a new approach. Independent analysis of open-source evidence, with risk evaluation and allocation, demonstrated the local applicability of two decades of international lessons of affordable housing projects. It provided an objective approach that serves the health of tenants and the wider community. In challenging preconceptions, it showed that a capability-based infrastructure development planning approach would be most suitable for affordable housing projects. Furthermore, it found that an enterprise-wide, transparent and outcomes-focussed governance structure is essential to successful risk allocation.

Conceptualising overlapping politics: Cross-class political relationships in urban Pakistan

Citizen-led activism to demand and secure adequate housing rights, infrastructure, and services in Islamabad forms part of a longstanding socio-political movement in Pakistan. This activism brings together different classes of urban residents. Drawing from qualitative research comprising of 129 interviews, this article reveals an emerging ‘overlapping politics’, defined as the political relationship between two (or more) distinct socio-economic classes of citizen(s) in response to any form of injustice or inequality. This (re)conceptualises everyday forms of urban political practice by countering existing assumptions that urban politics is rooted in class homogeneity. Inspired by the Islamabad case, I argue that ‘overlapping politics’ emerges largely as an alternative to, and progression from, clientelistic politics through four modes where ‘overlapping’ occurs across class lines: knowledge and information; networks and membership; support; and ownership and responsibility. The outcomes of ‘overlapping politics’ manifest spatially in the city, for example through increased interaction between urbanites, privately organised service provision, and urban protests. Although the practice of ‘overlapping politics’ has limitations, it provides an important new conceptual tool and language for understanding and analysing forms of politics that are embedded in cross-class relationships between urban citizens.

Addressing the Housing Crisis: Insights from a Study on University Students in Turkey

Housing stands as a fundamental human right, acknowledged by numerous international bodies and statutes. Despite this recognition, only a handful of nations ensure adequate housing for their populace. This research endeavors to forge a connection between housing rights and social policy through a comprehensive literature review. Drawing from data provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute and the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the study addresses the escalating housing concerns among university students in Turkey. With an increasing student population and insufficient accommodation facilities, the issue has reached a critical juncture. Most students are compelled to reside in state dormitories, which lack the capacity to meet demand. Moreover, economic hardships and a dearth of financial aid exacerbate the housing crisis. The findings underscore the urgent need for the development of policies and solutions tailored to address the housing predicament faced by university students in Turkey.

Getting to effective housing policy for health: a thematic synthesis of policy development and implementation

ABSTRACT Impacts of housing on health are well-recognised. Despite this, housing standards have been neglected and there are gaps in healthy housing policies, particularly in low and middle-income countries. Given the recent publication of the WHO Housing and health guidelines, and the need to implement these into policy at all scales, we carried out a focused search and thematic synthesis of available literature on the barriers and enablers to recent housing and health policy. We aimed to generate lessons of what works to support healthy housing policy development and implementation elsewhere. Twenty-three studies representing four countries were eligible for inclusion and covered housing-related risks of air quality, lead, accessible design, and housing conditions. Findings demonstrated that policy development and implementation were facilitated through awareness of housing and health, evidence of existing housing conditions and health impacts, collaborations across sectors and between residents and decision-makers and effective enforcement systems that employed incentives, tools such as certificates for compliance, and housing inspections. Concerns about economic viability and tensions between housing rights and responsibilities limited healthy housing policy for the ‘common good’. Despite limitations in the diversity of available evidence, this thematic synthesis provides a starting point for healthy and equitable housing for all.