Introduction
This resource summarises some of the key points from our Framework Guidelines on the Right to a
Decent Home in Aotearoa. It outlines some ways that the right to a decent home involves the private
sector in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Making sure that everyone can access and enjoy
their right to a decent home isn’t only the role of
the government. The private sector has a huge
part to play in the housing system. Investors,
businesses, and individuals develop, build, sell and
rent housing. Financial institutions provide access
to credit. Private households – often supported by
property managers – purchase, build or improve
their own housing and may rent it to others. Social
housing providers are a key part of the housing
ecosystem for those who cannot access private
rentals or home ownership.
Those who work in housing in the private
sector – including landlords, property managers,
investors, and property developers – can use this
resource to help understand their human rights
responsibilities and how they can uphold it in their
work.
Where does the right to a decent home come from?
The right to a decent home is included in a
range of international human rights treaties –
agreements that countries can commit to by
signing them. Over the last 50 years, successive
New Zealand governments have legally signed up
to the responsibility to implement the right to a
decent home here in Aotearoa.
Alongside these international agreements, the
right to a decent home in Aotearoa has to take
into account our own unique history, demography,
economy, society, culture, environment, and laws.
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Human Rights Commission
This context includes our history of colonisation
and the foundational status of te Tiriti o Waitangi.
That means the right to a decent home in Aotearoa
sits alongside and is informed by te Tiriti. Achieving
the right to a decent home means we need to
honour te Tiriti o Waitangi and the promises it
made.