Is the right to housing a human right?

A. Before answering the question, we need to know what a human right is. An equality right is a human right complementing the legal rights of Canadians. People have the right to equal protection and benefit without discrimination based on race, creed, colour, religion, sex, age, national or ethnic origin or any mental or physical disability (Willes & Willes, 2020, p.20). Many people, including myself, question the issue of housing rights as a human right because it seems like a socialist idea, not capitalism. However, there is a misconception that the right is to own a house. Instead, the right to housing refers to a human rights-based approach to housing (Young, 2019).That is, everyone has the right to adequate housing as an essential guarantee for human well-being.

The right to adequate housing means access to adequate housing as well as access to related social services and security of tenure. The security of tenure is to put additional obligations on the landlord to maintain safe premises for the tenant (Willes & Willes, 2020, p.552). Thus, the right means you can live in a suitable house where you are safe and your privacy is not disturbed. It is a social human rights policy for the underprivileged against the widening gap between the rich and the poor, one of the problems faced by capitalism. The gap between the rich and the poor unintentionally leads to discrimination, and discrimination can only be reduced by limiting it systematically