
If you have been following the unfolding of Canada’s commitment to the right to adequate housing, there’s a new report to check out.
The subject is evident in the report’s title: The Financialization of Purpose Built Rental Housing. The report comes from Canada’s National Housing Council1, which is part of Canada’s apparatus to progressively realize the right to housing.
The National Housing Council’s mandate includes convening Review Panels to investigate systemic issues that affect the right to housing. Review Panels provide an opportunity for rights holders (people who are affected by the the right to adequate housing, ie. all Canadian residents) to share their views, experiences and expertise with the panel members2.
The report linked below is the outcome of the first Review Panel. A first is always interesting as it sets the stage for all that follow. As well, Canada has a legal tradition of following precedent. Although this report is not a legal decision, it is part of the legal apparatus that Canada has adopted to realize the right to adequate housing.
This report will, or at least should, garner media attention and commentary, but here are three things that made it stand out for this writer:
The report connects the right to housing and health care
The report’s authors assert that the right to adequate housing is equivalent the right to universal health care. This idea is repeated in several places in the report. Here’s the first instance, which is in the letter of transmittal:
“The review panel believes that we must view the right to adequate housing through the same lens as universal health care, ensuring that everyone in Canada has access.”
This opinion is significant because courts in Canada have upheld the right of access to universal health care3. It would follow that if the right to housing is like the right to health care, the door is open for the courts to rule that residents in Canada have a right to adequate housing4.
Aligning housing with health is also consistent with the growing body of research that links adequate housing and positive health outcomes5.
The report navigates contentious issues
Review Panels are mandated to review systemic issues. People who made submissions for this Review Panel differed in their views. Is the financialization of housing in the private rental sector a systemic issue that prevents people from accessing adequate housing? The Review Panel provides an overview of the differences in its report, while keeping housing as a human right as its North Star.
The report also identifies the points of agreement, which include
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- More support to prevent housing precarity and homelessness.
- Long term stability in the housing sector.
- Expanding and preserving the stock of affordable housing.
- Collaboration among all levels of government.
The points of agreement shape the recommendations in the report and assure the federal government that there is consensus support for moving forward.
The report honours submissions that are beyond the scope of the Review Panel’s inquiry
The Review Panel fielded input about four issues that were not specific to the question of how the financialization of purpose built rental housing affects the right to adequate housing. These are:
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- Meeting the diverse needs of tenants.
- Personal financial investments in housing.
- Funding local services.
- Human rights based tax incentives.
The authors briefly discuss why the four issues merit further study.
You can access the report at the National Housing Council: The Financialization of Purpose-Built Rental Housing
The Financialization of Purpose-Built Rental Housing draws from the hearing record of the Review Panel and other reports that the National Housing Council has published. We will dip into two of these sources in future posts.
Footnotes
- Read more about the National Housing Council here.
- The Review Panel included Sam Watts (Chair), Maya Roy and Dr. Ann McAfee. All three are also members of the National Housing Council
- Try: Challenging Canada’s Denial Of Health Care: A Path To Housing Rights?
- In the past Canadian courts have declined to consider access to housing as a right.
- For more, check out this affordablehousingaction.org’s Health category.