About Us

Who Are We?

Housing Rights Watch is an interdisciplinary European network of associations, lawyers and academics from different countries, who are committed to promoting the right to housing. The right to housing has been recognised as one of the most important fundamental human rights and what we seek is the realisation of every person’s right to live in dignity and to have a secure, adequate and affordable place to live.

The network was set-up in Cardiff in November 2008 in order to facilitate exchange and mutual learning among housing rights experts and advocates.

What are Our Aims?

Share information on legislative and judiciary initiatives (case-law database, judicial analysis, monitoring of normative outcomes);
Support Judicial proceedings at local, national and international level;
Monitor and intervene on the factual and systemic denial of rights observed at various levels;
Monitor the development of the housing situation from a rights-based perspective;
Support change in public policies at national and European level with the aim of better implementing the right to housing;
Support the setting-up of national networks on the right to housing across Europe.

What themes Do We Work On?

THE RIGHT TO HOUSING

FEANTSA and its members are committed to the promotion and respect of fundamental human rights for all. We seek to advance the right of every person to live indignity and promote the right of all people to have a secure, adequate and affordable place to live. We are committed to preventing and reducing homelessness with a view to its progressive elimination and to the realisation of internationally recognised housing rights.

Access to housing can be considered as being a precondition for the exercise of most of the other fundamental rights. Housing rights are enshrined in widely ratified international instruments and in several EU Member States national laws. However, their concrete implementation remains unsatisfactory in many countries, as housing rights have not been accorded the same level of priority as access to other forms of social protection.

Many of our member organisations have been advocating for housing rights for a long time. FEANTSA works to coordinate these efforts at European level and to promote a rights-based approach to tackling homelessness. Its Housing Rights Working Group brings together experts from several EU countries.

CRIMINALISATION OF HOMELESSNESS

Cities, regions and even some countries (e.g. Hungary) across Europe are using the criminal justice system to minimise the visibility of people experiencing homelessness. Some local governments are motivated by the frustrations of business owners, residents and politicians who feel that homelessness puts the safety and livability of their cities and towns at risk. These feelings have prompted governments to establish formal and informal measures and enforcement policies to “limit where individuals who experience homelessness can congregate, and punish those who engage in life-sustaining or natural human activities in public spaces.

Action needs to be taken at all levels of policy-making to raise awareness and stop the criminalisation and penalisation of homelessness in Europe.