Guideline 11: All housing initiatives must comply with the seven UN ‘decency’ housing principles
read with Te Tiriti o Waitangi: habitable; affordable; accessible for everyone; services, facilities and
infrastructure; location; respect for cultural diversity; and security of tenure. If homes and housing
initiatives do not comply with a ‘decency’ principle they are not complying with the right to a
decent home, unless it can be shown that all reasonable steps have been taken to comply with the
principle (see section 4).
C. Freedoms and entitlements
less costly than entitlements.
63. The right to a decent home includes both
freedoms (e.g. freedom from discrimination
and unlawful eviction) and entitlements
(e.g. the provision of temporary emergency
housing when needed). Freedoms tend to be
Guideline 12: Because the right to a decent
home includes freedoms, all restrictive
housing laws, regulations, rules and practices
must be fair, reasonable, proportionate and
culturally appropriate.
D. Equity, equality and non-discrimination
64. Housing must be equally accessible to all,
including those living in poverty, Māori,
Pacific people, ethnic minorities, disabled
people, women, children, people living in rural
and remote areas, rainbow communities,
beneficiaries and other disadvantaged
individuals and communities. Te Tiriti and
the right to a decent home require effective
measures, specifically designed to address
unfair disadvantage, including the continuing
impacts of colonisation on tangata whenua
(see section 2).
65. In Aotearoa, policymakers often call for
‘equitable’ measures. The human rights
principles of equality and non-discrimination
are similar to equity. All three concepts
are important and have a social justice
component. In some respects, equality and
non-discrimination, being reinforced by law,
are more powerful than equity. For example,
if the government does not take effective
steps to tackle discrimination and inequality
in housing, it can be held to account and
required to take remedial measures. Equity,
on the other hand, is not usually reinforced by
law.
Guideline 13: A decent home must be
accessible to everyone without discrimination
on prohibited grounds, such as disability,
ethnicity, religion, age, gender or sexual
orientation. Effective measures, designed to
address the unfair disadvantage experienced
by some individuals and communities, are
required.
Section 3: Key features of the right to a decent home grounded on Te Tiriti o Waitangi
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