UN Experts Attack the Role of Private Investment in Pushing Tenants out of Affordable Housing

On Tuesday, UN human rights experts issued a statement condemning the “egregious” business practices of giant private equity and investment firms which are scooping up low income and affordable homes around the world, upgrading them, and substantially raising rents, forcing tenants out of their own homes.  

Recognizing the central role that private investing plays in these developments, Leilani Farha, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, and Surya Deva, Chairperson of the Working Group on business and human rights, wrote to one of the world’s largest investors in residential real estate, the Blackstone Group L.P.  The experts expressed serious concerns that the Blackstone Group’s actions are inconsistent with international human rights law with respect to the right to housing and its responsibility to respect human rights under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

At the same time, the experts have been critical of the role that governments have played in permitting these private actors to profit from actions that create displacement and homelessness.  Of particular interest in the U.S., the experts sent a letter to the U.S. government reminding it of its human rights obligations. 

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