Mary Heavey: Ireland’s housing policy and the right to housing
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The lifting of the eviction ban at the end of March has focused fresh attention on Ireland’s housing policy, and the inadequacy of existing measures to address the current housing and homelessness crisis.
It is disappointing that, in the face of this deepening crisis and growing public despair, the recommendations of the Housing Commission on a referendum on housing have been further delayed.
While not a silver bullet, a constitutional right to housing would require the State to balance its role as protector of both private property rights and the right to an adequate home. It would enable the State to adopt a more effective and progressive policy in relation to housing.
There has been, and will continue to be, a lot of debate over the merits of introducing such an amendment to our constitution, and what such a change could achieve.
A constitutional right to housing will not fix the housing crisis. It will not require the State to build housing for the entire population; nor will it entitle an individual to demand a house from the State. Constitutional rights do not work that way. However, constitutional change is an essential underpinning for any successful programme to tackle our housing and homelessness crisis.
This is what it will do and this is why it matters:
- The Irish constitution protects the right to private property — this protection does not include a right to housing. The absence of a constitutional right to housing has resulted in the State’s housing policies protecting housing as a commodity, and not a basic human right. With 11,742 people accessing emergency accommodation in February 2023, including 3,373 children, these policies are failing. These figures do not account for the hidden homeless — those sleeping rough, couch surfing, or living in overcrowded accommodation.
- Furthermore, the current constitutional framework, in only protecting a right to private property, has arguably served as a barrier to the adoption of progressive housing policies, which could effectively tackle the ongoing crisis. The Government’s recent decision to lift the eviction ban is a case in point. The Attorney General reportedly told the Government that the extension of the eviction ban would “require substantial evidence and legal and policy justification”. A constitutional right to housing would have provided a strong legal justification for the Government to adopt a more rights-based approach.
- A referendum to insert a standalone right to housing into our constitution represents a crucial moment for the Irish population to ground Ireland’s housing policy in the foundational laws of the State. It would provide a constitutional underpinning to the State’s housing policies and would require and allow the State to adopt effective and progressive measures.
At its most basic level, the right to housing is about ensuring everyone has equal access to a safe home and shelter.
However, the right to adequate housing, as defined by the United Nations, is broader than protecting the right to shelter. It is about protecting security of tenure and ensuring you will not be living in fear of eviction by your landlord on a whim.
It is about protecting your home and lands from unlawful interference. It is about ensuring your home is affordable and that you have equal access to housing opportunities. It is about ensuring your home is habitable and sustainable, with access to appropriate services, school, and employment. It is about ensuring you have a say in housing-related decision-making processes at a local and national level.
The insertion of a constitutional right to adequate housing would require the State to have regard to these entitlements in implementing housing policies going forward, and would ultimately enhance the rights of all.
A right to housing could be used to hold the State to account for its ongoing failure to tackle the current housing crisis. One of the most severe violations of the right to adequate housing is homelessness, and Ireland is in clear breach of this right.
People who are homeless or who are at risk of homelessness need meaningful protection in our constitution. A right to adequate housing, including a right to shelter, can provide this protection.
Furthermore, it would provide the State with both a constitutional basis and a constitutional responsibility for the provision of adequate housing to all in Ireland. It would require the State to take action, be it through legislation, policies, strategies or other measures, to ensure that the right to adequate housing of everyone is vindicated.
A right to adequate housing does not threaten the right to private property, as already protected in our constitution.
The right to private property is not an absolute right, and the constitution provides that it can be restricted in the interest of “common good”. A stand-alone and equal right to housing would present a re-balancing of the constitution and the State’s role as both protector of private property rights, and the right to an adequate home.
A referendum to insert a standalone right to adequate housing in our constitution represents a crucial opportunity for the Irish people to fundamentally and radically re-shape the State’s housing policies, and require the State to effectively and progressively tackle the economic, social, and human crisis that we are all currently experiencing.
Therefore, we call on the Housing Commission to urgently progress its work, and the Government to honour its commitment to put a referendum on housing to the Irish people.