The Right to Housing

Abstract

The issue of justice in housing is rarely discussed in political philosophy. Yet, housing crises such as that currently faceSd by the UK highlight the importance of work in this area. In this article, I address the issue of housing justice by defending a basic right to housing. The right is in the first instance specific to a particular context, that of a Western liberal society. I defend a positive right to exercise a set of property rights called ‘lease rights’ over a self-contained living space of a certain standard, for a minimum term of 3 years. An important feature of this right is that it is a right to live alone. Where individuals have to live in communal housing because they lack the resources to do otherwise, their basic rights are violated. The account provides a distinctive understanding of how a government’s housing policy can fail its citizens.

Analysis of factors affecting the realization of right to adequate housing in Iran: developing an interpretive-structural model

“…The housing is a human right (Finger, 2011) that has to be allocated under justice. Wells (2019), however, belied that the justice in housing has been only rarely discussed in the political philosophy. The merchandization of housing coupled with the capitalistic view to it has deeply affected the realization of the right to adequate housing, reducing the availability of housing to general public.…”

Patterns of distributive justice: social housing and the search for market dynamism in Amsterdam

“…Despite these limitations, evaluations of distributive justice are important for assessing the outcomes of policies. In terms of housing, it concerns the distribution and provision of a primary good catering to a social right (Wells, 2018;Yung & Lee, 2012).…”

Spoilage and Squatting: A Lockean Argument

“…This has often been taken as evidence that it forms a less powerful or even largely insignificant constraint on the accumulation of property. Waldron (1988), for example, reads it as providing just grounds for accumulation if there is indeed enough and as good left for others, while not intrinsically ruling out just accumulation if there is not. Layman levels a challenge at this interpretation, pointing out that 'Locke's text makes it very hard to deny that there is some kind of serious moral problem with distributions that leave some people badly off while others thrive' (2018, p. 156).…”

“…Locke appears to be mainly concerned with arbitrary expropriation by the state or monarch: however, his argument covers a greater range of scenarios, of which squatting could be considered one. Waldron (1988) situates the Lockean right to immunity against expropriation in the wider 'natural' right to property. This immunity takes the form of a 'claim-right' (Waldron 1988, p. 27): in Waldron's example the owner of a car holds this right 'against everyone else (her neighbours, her friends, the local car thief, everyone in the community) that they should not use her Porsche without her permission' (Waldron 1988, p. 27).…”