A/HRC/43/43
United Nations
General Assembly
Distr.: General
26 December 2019
Original: English
Human Rights Council
Forty-third session
24 February–20 March 2020
Agenda item 3
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights,
including the right to development
Guidelines for the Implementation of the Right to Adequate
Housing
Report of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component
of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to nondiscrimination in this context
Summary
The Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an
adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context, Leilani
Farha, submits the present report pursuant to Human Rights Council resolutions 15/8 and
34/9. The report contains Guidelines for the Implementation of the Right to Adequate
Housing, focusing on the key requirements of effective rights-based responses to emerging
challenges.
The current global crisis in housing is unlike any previous crisis. It is linked to
growing socioeconomic inequality, large-scale financialization of housing and land and
unsustainable housing systems that treat housing as a commodity. In the Special
Rapporteur’s experience, States are not always aware of how human rights obligations
apply in the context of housing and, more importantly, of how those obligations can be
translated into concrete actions to address the crisis.
The Guidelines provide States with a set of implementation measures in key areas of
concern, including homelessness and the unaffordability of housing, migration, evictions,
climate change, the upgrading of informal settlements, inequality and the regulation of
businesses. All of the implementation measures are informed by the urgent need to reclaim
housing as a fundamental human right. Implementation of the Guidelines will substantially
alter how States treat housing, creating a new landscape where housing can be secured as a
human right for all.
GE.19-22537(E)