RECENTLY, THREE stories about housing were in the news. Although they may seem unconnected, they are closely linked and we need to pay attention to the messages they convey.First, both the French prime minister and president announced support for a legal right to housing .

Following the lead set by Scotland, France would elevate housing as a social right, on a par with education. Despite calls for a right to housing in the United States, notably by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1944 as part of what he called a Second Bill of Rights, this country has only articulated a national housing goal: “a decent home and suitable living environment for every American family.”

But this rhetoric has not translated into a commitment to action.

In the absence of the political will to supply consistent and sufficient public resources, federal, state, and local governments have taken an indirect route by providing incentives to the private for-profit sector as an enticement for them to enter the realm of “affordable” housing. This brings us to the second story. Read more

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