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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Jane Ball
France and England are close and do extremely similar things, but their differences in the area of rights, particularly housing rights, are structural. These go back to the serious schisms of the French revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. These differences cannot be dismissed as functionally similar because they have an effect on the perception and effect of rights.The English assumption has been historically that a right is something that is enforceable whilst in France this can be a range of things from an enforceable right to simply a policy. You can see this in the French right to housing which is enforceable for some classes of people who can apply for priority in access to social housing, as in England. However, the right to housing also covers urban planning policy and the extent of tenants' rights, which means that this is a holistic framework for most things that have to do with housing. This paper looks at the difference in approaches to the purpose of social housing. English traditional approaches are to house those in need, whilst the French approaches are wider, recently increasing the focus on disadvantaged people. The French right to housing has to battle opposing principles such as property, social mix and equality, in the sense that all should access housing. Both systems have run into practical difficulties.
Author(s): Ball J
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Revista de Derecho Urbanístico y Medio Ambiente
Year: 2015
Volume: XLIV
Issue: 287
Pages: 89-122
Print publication date: 30/04/2015
Online publication date: 30/04/2015
Date deposited: 23/07/2015
ISSN (electronic): 1139-4978
Publisher: RDU Revistas Especialidas SL
URL: http://cld.bz/ozTPWya#87
Notes: Article published in English and Spanish
