The European Committee of Social Rights has agreed to process the UGT’s request and will examine whether Spain actually guarantees the right to housing, included in Article 31 of the European Social Charter, ratified by the Spanish State in 2021. The union had filed a complaint before this body estimating that the shortage of social housing and high free market prices make access to housing inaccessible for “a significant part of the population” and, in particular, “for workers belonging to vulnerable groups such as young people, low wages and migrants.
Specifically, the UGT argues that the legal framework and public policies on housing are inadequate and ineffective and do not comply with the mandate of the Revised European Social Charter. The Constitution recognizes the right to decent and adequate housing, but places it among the guiding principles of social and economic policy and not as an “authentic and justifiable” right, as the union claims.
The difference between a guiding principle and a fundamental right is that the latter can be invoked in court if administrations do not guarantee it, which does not happen with the right to housing. Furthermore, the UGT considers that the state law approved in 2023 is ineffective in resolving the housing crisis because “it has a programmatic character and leaves the application of the objectives set to the discretion of the autonomous authorities, in accordance with the constitutional distribution of powers.” Concretely, the organization believes that “the 20-year deadline set by law to achieve a minimum stock of social housing intended for social policies is unreasonable and lacks immediate measurable objectives”.
In addition to Article 31 of the Social Charter, the union considers that Spain violates four other mandates, included in Articles 16, 17, 19 and 30. These refer to the rights of families to adequate protection to ensure their full development, which the parties undertake to promote, among other measures, through the provision of housing; those of children and adolescents to adequate protection; that of migrant workers and their families to protection and assistance, through the obligations of public administrations, among which accommodation is specifically mentioned; and that of protection against poverty and social exclusion.
The Government did not present any observations on the admissibility of the UGT’s request, which was ultimately accepted unanimously. Thus, the Commission formally invited the Spanish State to present its allegations on the merits of the case before February 16.
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