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A/68/289 Swedish cooperative organizations have received significant state support since the 1950s, when housing subsidies were applied equally to all forms of tenure, including cooperatives. 94 The Swedish legislation 95 provides a clear legal framework for the operation of housing cooperatives by defining the legal status of the relevant associations, such as the Savings and Construction Association of Tenants (HSB) and the cooperative housing organization known as Riksbyggen, and of the tenant owners. Additional rules and regulations are adopted by the associations themselves with tenant majority approval. 50. In Latin America, a successful example of housing cooperatives on a national scale is the mutual aid cooperatives in Uruguay, which are promoted by the Federation of Mutual Aid Housing Cooperatives. The Uruguayan legislation recognizes collective tenure, and the regulation of the housing cooperatives is encompassed in the 1992 General Cooperative Law. Since 1965, around 600 Federation cooperatives have been consolidated in Uruguay, and around 20,000 families are living in houses and apartments built through mutual aid. Mutual aid cooperatives have been introduced and adapted in 14 Latin American and Caribbean countries over the past 20 years through various initiatives. 96 51. A recent form of cooperatives combining finance and building are community funds, which have been developed in Africa and Asia. 97 These funds work with group loans and/or savings in order to assist communities in financing land regularization and acquisition, infrastructure and service provision, and home improvements. 98 The Asian Coalition for Community Action programme has promoted community funds in Asia from 2009 to 2011, carrying out 111 housing projects in 15 countries, at a total cost of almost $4 million; collective agreements were used in 36 of the projects. 99 52. A collective organization enables cooperatives to take on complex housing and infrastructure projects that would otherwise not be possible for an individual household. Community funds provide financial and technical support for the purchase of land parcels and communal infrastructure (such as roads, drainage, water and sanitation). 100 The process typically involves negotiations with other stakeholders, such as the original owners of the parcel and the Government. 101 In the Scandinavian model, the “mother” (also known as “parent” or “secondary”) __________________ 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 18/24 However, in recent years State support for cooperative housing has weakened as part of a housing commodification process. See Sukumar, “Enabling housing cooperatives” (see footnote 92 above), p. 374. The 1991 Cooperative Housing Act, the 1987 Cooperative Societies Act and the 1930 TenantOwnership Act. M. Solanas, “La Transferencia del Cooperativisimo Uruguayo de Vivienda por Ayuda a Otras Latitudes: una Experiencia de Cooperación Internacional”, Revista Vivienda Popular de la Facultad de Arquitectura de Montevideo (2011). According to reply received from Thailand in response to the questionnaire on security of tenure sent by the Special Rapporteur on 22 March 2013, in reference to the Baan Mankong National Collective Housing Program that has benefited 600,000 households between 2003-2007. UN-Habitat, Financing Urban Shelter (see footnote 25 above), p. 99. S. Boonyabancha, “Baan Mankong: going to scale with ‘slum’ and squatter upgrading in Thailand”, Environment and Urbanization, vol. 17, No. 1 (April 2005); UN-Habitat, Affordable Land and Housing in Asia (Nairobi, 2011). UN-Habitat, Financing Urban Shelter (see footnote 25 above), p. 99. Nilsson, “Overview of financial systems” (see footnote 31 above), p. 19; Erlend Sigvaldsen, “Key issues in housing microfinance” (Oslo, Nordic Consulting Group, 2010), pp. 16-17. 13-42184

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Report of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and the right to non-discrimination in this context

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Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context

Date: Aug 7, 2013

Summary: The Special Rapporteur builds on the findings of her previous report (A/67/286) and analyses two alternative housing policies — rental and collective housing — that can play a key role in the promotion of the enjoyment of the right to adequate housing for those living in poverty. She calls for a paradigm shift from the financialization of housing to a human rights- based approach and recommends that States promote various forms of tenure, including private and public rental, and collective tenure. From a human rights perspective, Governments are required to make effective use of their available resources to ensure the enjoyment of the right to adequate housing, including by prioritizing the poorest. That obligation implies more than a roof since the right to housing entails access to an array of services and facilities that guarantee an adequate standard of living.

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Report of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and the right to non-discrimination in this context

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