UN Special Rapporteur invited to meet Scottish Gypsy Travellers: “systemic change in housing service delivery and engagement” needed
Making Rights Real and RAJPOT have provided written evidence to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, in response to his recent call for evidence on “localizing the right to adequate housing: How local governments and community-led initiatives can contribute to the realization of the right to adequate housing”.
We argue that community-led initiatives can strengthen State action to make the right to housing real and effective at local level. You can read our submission by clicking the button below:
Our submission draws on evidence from hyper-local campaigns and highlights housing rights breaches through two case studies: Bobbin Mill in Perth and Kinross, and Cables Wynd House in Edinburgh. We ask the Special Rapporteur for support in addressing their long-standing and serious violations to the right to adequate housing.
Both case studies offer rich insight into the questions posed and identify solutions for duty bearers seeking to realise the right to housing. Rights holders describe:
- Using human rights-based approaches to demand adequate housing.
- Framing housing service failures not as resource issues but as human rights violations.
- Turning individual rights violations into collective community action.
- Reclaiming the role of “expert” and “human rights monitor” by using community-generated data to evidence and measure what matters in the practical realisation of rights.
- Showing that duty-bearer responses point to the need for systemic change in housing service delivery and engagement.
- Providing a blueprint for better housing practice “done for and with us, not to us.”
The residents of Bobbins Mill extended an invitation the Special Rapporteur Dr Koldo Casla to visit them, and to take the opportunity to speak to other rights holders whose experiences inform this submission. Rights holders wish to share:
- their experiences of becoming human rights monitors in their own communities.
- how they have been excluded from meaningful participation in housing policy and practice.
- how embedding human rights-based approaches from community-led initiatives could transform housing service design.
The issues in this submission show significant gaps in rights realisation, particularly in culturally appropriate accommodation, substandard housing, and the participation of rights holders. These violations are intensified and disproportionately experienced by marginalised groups, especially women, disabled people and Gypsy Travellers. Intersecting forms of discrimination and marginalisation further restrict the enjoyment of rights.
Gypsy Travellers seeking redress for failures in the right to accommodation face serious barriers to legal justice. Making Rights Real has not yet been able to secure legal representation for rights holders who wish to access this, despite the Scottish Housing Regulators findings of serious failures across three sites.
Hannah Kitchen-Kirkby, MRR’s Community Organiser said:
“We are working with residents at 4 sites in East and Central Scotland. Some are engaged in lengthy negotiations to make sure their cultural needs are met by any upgrades that take place. Others have had their homes upgraded but have found the process very disruptive and many have felt brushed aside despite consultation processes. We want to invite the Special Rapporteur for Housing to visit these communities and hear about their concerns firsthand.”