5th Periodic Report under the International Covenant for Economic Social and Cultural Rights Feedback
Article 11: Right to housing and adequate standard of living
Read the text in the report here.
The Covenant guarantees everyone the right to a home, within a community that meets their needs and aspirations. The Covenant recognises the seven internationally recognised housing principles that include affordability, accessibility, access to services, facilities and infrastructure, access to location, respect for cultural diversity, and security of tenure.
Everyone also the right to an adequate standard of living including adequate food and safe drinking water, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions.
The report outlines developments in areas such as national housing strategies, homelessness and emergency housing, the supply of housing, improving rental markets, funding programmes for iwi and Māori, housing for older persons, and tackling child poverty.
Committee recommendations
The paragraph numbers below are taken from the Committee's concluding observations that you can access here.
The information in the report also relates to the United Nations Special Rapporteur's visit in 2020 and the Committee's assessment of our subsequent follow-up report. You can access these here.
38. The Committee recommends that the State party strengthen its efforts to combat poverty, in particular among households with dependent children, notably Māori or Pasifika children and children with disabilities. In particular, the Committee urges the State party to accelerate the enactment of the child poverty reduction bill introduced in January 2018, and ensure that the child well-being strategy is well resourced and effectively implemented. It also requests the State party to provide disaggregated information in its next periodic report on the progress achieved in meeting the targets in the strategy. Furthermore, the Committee recommends that the State party consider developing an overall poverty reduction strategy based on the Child Well-being Strategy.
40. The Committee recommends that the State party adopt a human rights-based national housing strategy, taking into account the 2018 Housing stocktake report produced by the Government. It also recommends that the State party:
(a) Step up its efforts to increase the availability of quality affordable housing, paying particular attention to low-income, Māori and Pasifika families, persons with disabilities and older persons, and allocate the necessary resources for the effective implementation of the KiwiBuild programme;
(b) Address more effectively the growing phenomenon of homelessness, including by implementing the strategy to end homelessness, and monitor and record more systematically the situation of the homeless;
(c) Ensure that any evictions comply with international standards, including respect for due process guarantees and the provision of alternative housing;
(d) Redouble its efforts to regulate the private housing market, including by controlling rent increases, and take effective measures to ensure that housing rental units are safe for living, including by strengthening legislation that requires minimum quality standards for heating and insulation in rental homes;
(e) Strengthen its efforts to swiftly process the outstanding claims arising from the Canterbury earthquakes, including by establishing a well-equipped specialized tribunal, and promote the implementation of the recommendations made by the Human Rights Commission in its monitoring report, “Staying in the red zones”.
41. The Committee draws the State party’s attention to its general comments No. 7 (1997) on forced evictions and No. 4 (1991) on the right to adequate housing.
43. The Committee recommends that the State party take immediate steps to address the obstacles to access to safe drinking water, including by implementing the findings of the Havelock North drinking water inquiry, and introducing the necessary legislative and regulatory changes to ensure access to safe drinking water for all. The Committee draws the State party’s attention to it general comment No. 15 (2002) on the right to water.