State of the Sector - REITs, ESG disclosures and the Human Right to adequate housing

often included in the policies and processes that investors adopt to The report focuses on three interrelated criteria for the realization of the human right to adequate housing: affordability, security of tenure and habitability. [...] the 2021 election, the Liberals signed an agreement with the New Democrat Party that pledges “tackling the financialization of the housing market by the end of 2023.”9 ii The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) uses the term “core housing” to refer to whether a household’s housing falls below indicator thresholds for housing adequacy, affordability or suitability and whether a household. [...] STATE OF THE SECTOR | 9 01 Background The right to housing as an investor issue In addition to having a responsibility to respect human rights, upholding The right to adequate housing is a human right.19 Investors the right to adequate housing can be a means for investors to generate have a responsibility to respect human rights in their positive impacts and sustainable long-term returns while mit. [...] tax treatment of REITs and the financialization of housing into risks Importantly, none of these reporting standards ask companies to at the provincial and municipal levels, such as stronger rent control provide the type and depth of performance data that would enable and zoning restrictions. [...] STATE OF THE SECTOR | 31 Conclusion Adequate housing is a human This report proposes a set of metrics and disclosures on three interrelated criteria for the realization right and a cornerstone of a of the human right to adequate housing: affordability, security of tenure and habitability.