Housing and Human Rights

This innovative book fully examines and assesses the complex relationship between housing and human rights. Jessie Hohmann draws on national and international political, economic, legal and social frameworks to provide much needed contemporary clarity for this potentially emancipatory area of human rights. This incisive analysis addresses the full range of housing arrangements and contexts – from secure and adequate housing, to housing precarity and homelessness.

Chapters examine the function, implications and future possibilities of human rights on the political, administrative and legal regulation of housing systems and practices. The book explores how other human rights (such as to property, privacy, self-determination and work) are applied to housing across multiple scales and functions, such as shelter, home and financial asset. Hohmann also looks to the future, proposing five principles that guide the interpretation of human rights toward housing justice, including a commitment to substantive equality and adopting a decolonial approach.

This insightful book is a key resource for scholars and students across numerous legal fields, including housing, human rights and property law, as well planning, urban governance and development. It will also assist policymakers and UN experts in navigating the application of human rights in housing.