The Right to Housing and the Powers of the State

Abstract

The supposedly exclusive powers of the Spanish autonomous communities on housing are strongly conditioned by the concurrent powers of the State. The interpretation of these powers made by the Spanish Constitutional Court has prioritised the objective consideration of housing as a principle over the subjective consideration of housing as a right and its economic dimension over the social one. This paper highlights some paradoxes and perplexities caused by this approach, as well as the opportunity provided by the Right to Housing Act to solve them.

Keywords

• right to housing
• powers of the state
• basic quality conditions
• opening clauses