Brazil
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Adequate Housing
Adequate housing is fundamental to survival and to living a dignified life with peace
and security. Yet, it is currently estimated that approximately 100 million people
worldwide are without a place to live, and that more than one billion people worldwide
are inadequately housed. Throughout the world, millions more are forcibly evicted from
their homes every year, or live with the uncertainly that they may be forcibly evicted at
any time without any opportunity for relocation, compensation or legal recourse. Access
to adequate housing also impacts upon other human rights; without it, employment is
difficult to secure and maintain, health is threatened, education is impeded, violence is
more easily perpetrated, privacy is impaired and social relationships are frequently
strained.
Yet, despite the centrality of housing in everyone's life, few human rights are violated
as frequently as are housing rights. In every country throughout the world - both North
and South - women, men and children, particularly those living in poverty, are forced to
live in appalling conditions, on pavements, near environmental hazards, in slums, parks,
cars, cages, on rooftops, under bridges or are forced to "squat" in abandoned buildings
or on land owned by others. For those fortunate enough to have a home, while these
places may provide some meagre protection from the elements, they all too frequently
remain grossly inadequate, lacking security of tenure, potable water, proper drainage
and sewage systems, proper sanitation, ventilation/heat, electricity and access to basic
social services.
For example, according to the United Nations Development Programme, nearly one
billion of the world's citizens still lack improved water sources and an estimated 2.4
billion have inadequate sanitation. All of these denials of housing rights are intensified
in situations of armed conflict or in the face of natural disasters such as earthquakes and
floods. In addition, already marginalised groups, including women, ethnic and racial
minorities, the elderly, and of course, the poor, are placed at increased risk of housing
rights violations.
According to international human rights law, in order for housing to be adequate it must
provide more than just four walls and a roof over one's head; it must, at a minimum,
include the following elements:
(a) Legal security of tenure. Tenure takes a variety of forms, including rental (public
and private) accommodation, cooperative housing, lease, owner-occupation, emergency
housing and informal settlements, including occupation of land or property.
Notwithstanding the type of tenure, all persons should possess a degree of security of
tenure which guarantees legal protection against forced eviction, harassment and other
threats. States parties should consequently take immediate measures aimed at conferring
legal security of tenure upon those persons and households currently lacking such
protection, in genuine consultation with affected persons and groups.
(b) Availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure. An adequate house
must contain certain facilities essential for health, security, comfort and nutrition. All
beneficiaries of the right to adequate housing should have sustainable access to natural
and common resources, safe drinking water, energy for cooking, heating and lighting,
sanitation and washing facilities, means of food storage, refuse disposal, site drainage
and emergency services.
(c) Affordability. Personal or household financial costs associated with housing should
be at such a level that the attainment and satisfaction of other basic needs are not
threatened or compromised. Steps should be taken by States parties to ensure that the
percentage of housing-related costs is, in general, commensurate with income levels.
States parties should establish housing subsidies for those unable to obtain affordable
housing, as well as forms and levels of housing finance which adequately reflect
housing needs. In accordance with the principle of affordability, tenants should be
protected by appropriate means against unreasonable rent levels or rent increases. In
societies where natural materials constitute the chief sources of building materials for
housing, steps should be taken by States parties to ensure the availability of such
materials.
(d) Habitability. Adequate housing must be habitable, in terms of providing the
inhabitants with adequate space and protecting them from cold, damp, heat, rain, wind
or other threats to health, structural hazards, and disease vectors. The physical safety of
occupants must be guaranteed as well. The Committee encourages States parties to
comprehensively apply the Health Principles of Housing prepared by WHO which view
housing as the environmental factor most frequently associated with conditions for
disease in epidemiological analyses; i.e. inadequate and deficient housing and living
conditions are invariably associated with higher mortality and morbidity rates.
(e) Accessibility. Adequate housing must be accessible to those entitled to it.
Disadvantaged groups must be accorded full and sustainable access to adequate housing
resources. Thus, such disadvantaged groups as the elderly, children, the physically
disabled, the terminally ill, HIV-positive individuals, persons with persistent medical
problems, the mentally ill, victims of natural disasters, people living in disaster-prone
areas and other groups should be ensured some degree of priority consideration in the
housing sphere. Both housing law and policy should take fully into account the special
housing needs of these groups. Within many States parties increasing access to land by
landless or impoverished segments of the society should constitute a central policy goal.
Discernible governmental obligations need to be developed aiming to substantiate the
right of all to a secure place to live in peace and dignity, including access to land as an
entitlement.
(f) Location. Adequate housing must be in a location which allows access to
employment options, health-care services, schools, child-care centres and other social
facilities. This is true both in large cities and in rural areas where the temporal and
financial costs of getting to and from the place of work can place excessive demands
upon the budgets of poor households. Similarly, housing should not be built on polluted
sites nor in immediate proximity to pollution sources that threaten the right to health of
the inhabitants.
(g) Cultural adequacy. The way housing is constructed, the building materials used and
the policies supporting these must appropriately enable the expression of cultural
identity and diversity of housing. Activities geared towards development or
modernization in the housing sphere should ensure that the cultural dimensions of
housing are not sacrificed, and that, inter alia, modern technological facilities, as
appropriate are also ensured. |
