The New York City’s affordable housing crisis has brought
housing advocates together to seek political solutions to what
is commonly seen as an economic problem: There is not enough
housing to meet the demand; consequently the price of housing
â€“ rent â€“ has skyrocketed. But advocates in some other cities
are finding more ammunition for their efforts: They are citing
international treaties that oblige governments to respect a
human right to adequate housing. Their efforts could lead to a
national movement that would bring housing advocates â€“ and
other human rights advocates â€“ together in a new and more
powerful way, they assert. Property Rights and Housing Rights
The idea that housing is a human right is hardly new, but it is
not nearly as developed as the concept of property rights.
Property rights remain the basis for most law in the United
States, continuing a long legal tradition that stretches back to
ancient Rome. Probably every school kid learns that in order to
vote in the early colonies, a man