Global Report on Human Settlements 2007 - PoA-ISS

Security of tenure: Conditions and trends
131
subjected to various forms of discrimination that may impact
upon their security of tenure and/or their exposure to
various forms of evictions. Moreover, the consequences of
evictions may be harder to bear for some groups. What
follows is a brief overview of the conditions experienced by
some such vulnerable groups.
The urban poor
Poverty and inequality remain the key determinants of
vulnerability from tenure insecurity. Generally, the poorer a
person or household is, the less security of tenure they are
likely to enjoy. Despite a variety of well-intentioned efforts –
such as campaigns to end poverty and the MDGs – all
relevant indicators point to poverty levels increasing in much
of the world. Likewise, global income inequalities seem to be
at the highest level since measurements began. The richest 2
per cent of adults in the world now own more than half of
global household wealth, and the richest 1 per cent of adults
alone owned 40 per cent of global assets in the year 2000.
The richest 10 per cent of adults accounted for 85 per cent
of the world’s total wealth, while, by contrast, the bottom
half of the world’s adult population owned barely 1 per cent
of global wealth. 55
While national GDP levels have increased in many
nations, this has not always resulted in improved housing
and living conditions for lower-income groups. In fact, there
is some evidence that society-wide economic progress can
actually reduce tenure security for the poorer sections of
society as land values, speculation and investment in real
estate all collude to increase the wealth of the elites, thus
making it much more difficult for the poor to have access to
housing that is secure and affordable. The widespread
housing price boom of the past 15 years in many countries,
for instance, certainly benefited existing owners of homes
and those able to obtain mortgages in many countries, but
also priced millions out of the housing market.
At the national level, the economic boom in China, for
instance, has significantly reduced security of tenure. Some
50 million urban residents in China (not including migrant
workers) are now highly vulnerable, often subject to eviction
from the affordable homes they have occupied for decades.
Few of these residents can afford to buy or rent new housing
in the districts where they now reside, given recent property
price increases, and new and affordable rental units are far
scarcer than the numbers needed. 56
In recognition of the fact that rising real estate prices
have made the dream of homeownership increasingly distant
for many lower-income groups, access to security of tenure
takes on added significance. In many settings, enjoying
tenure security is far more important to dwellers than
homeownership or being providing with a title to a land plot.
During recent years, there has been a major policy shift away
from more conventional approaches, to informal settlements,
to more simplified, innovative, cost-effective and
locally driven efforts to procure security of tenure. With
governments unable and/or unwilling to commit the
resources required to raise levels of housing adequacy, and
civil society and NGOs largely sceptical of any efforts by the
state or private sectors to improve housing conditions, it is
not difficult to see how the international community has
reached the view that the provision of security of tenure
should be seen as a cornerstone of efforts to reduce poverty.
Tenants
If there is any particular group of urban dwellers who is
under-protected and under-emphasized and frequently
misunderstood, it is surely the world’s tenants. While
precise figures are lacking, the number of the world’s
tenants may well be measured in billions. In terms of
security of tenure, tenants most certainly can be provided
with levels of tenure security protecting them from all but
the most exceptional instances of eviction; but all too rarely
are the rights of tenants and the rights of title holders to
secure tenure treated equitably under national legal systems.
However, if the question of tenure is viewed from the
perspective of human rights, it is clear that tenants, owners
and, indeed, all tenure sectors – formal and informal –
should enjoy equitable treatment in terms of tenure security
and protection against eviction.
There would seem, as well, little justification for
treating tenants in a fundamentally different way from
owners or title holders when regularization processes are
under way within a given informal settlement. Such
processes should be fair, equitable and of benefit to all of the
lower-income groups. In Kenya, for example, the Mathare
4A slum upgrading programme fell short of its objectives
because of the lack of considering the impact of upgrading
on the security of tenure of tenants. 57 In terms of rental
markets, there is a growing appreciation that tenure security
can assist, and not hinder, in increasing the prospects of
long-term rental contracts, which, in turn, can strengthen
security of tenure rights in this sector. The insecurity of
tenure prevalent throughout much of Latin America, for
instance, is seen as a key reason why long-term tenancy
arrangements are so rare in the region.
Tenants are rarely a topic of focus within global
human settlements circles. Moreover, when they are, they
are frequently neglected (or even treated with disdain) in the
context of urban development and slum regularization initiatives,
and also in the context of post-conflict housing and
property restitution programmes. 58 Although faced with
precisely the same circumstances that lead to their displacement
(which can include crimes such as ethnic cleansing,
etc.), some restitution measures have clearly favoured the
restitution rights of owners over those of tenants when the
time to return home arrives. While the procedures under the
Commission on Real Property Claims that emerged from the
Dayton Peace Accords in Bosnia-Herzegovina gave fully equal
rights to both formal property owners and those holding
social occupancy rights to their original homes, as did the
restitution regulations of the Housing and Property
Directorate in Kosovo, it remains common for former owners
to be treated more favourably than tenants despite the
similarity of the origins of their displacement. 59
The issue of tenants and security of tenure is also vital
when examining the various policy debates under way on the
Generally, the
poorer a person or
household is, the
less security of
tenure they are
likely to enjoy
Society-wide
economic progress
can actually reduce
tenure security for
the poorer sections
of society
Tenants … are
frequently neglected
… in … urban development
and slum
regularization initiatives,
and … in …
post-conflict housing
and property restitution
programmes