We value the 7 pillars of adequate housing that the United Nations has adopted. Housing is more than a roof over your head. We know that the term ‘affordable housing’ can have negative nuances for some, but affordability is a fundamental tenet to adequate housing. See the 7 pillars below.

For housing to be adequate, it must, at a minimum, meet the following criteria:

• Security of tenure: Housing is not adequate if its occupants do not have a degree of tenure security which guarantees legal protection against forced evictions, harassment and other threats.
• Availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure: Housing is not adequate if its occupants do not have safe drinking water, adequate sanitation, energy for cooking, heating, lighting, food storage or refuse disposal.
• Affordability: Housing is not adequate if its cost threatens or compromises the occupants’ enjoyment of other human rights.
• Habitability: Housing is not adequate if it does not guarantee physical safety or provide adequate space, as well as protection against the cold, damp, heat, rain, wind, other threats to health and structural hazards.
• Accessibility: Housing is not adequate if the specific needs of disadvantaged and marginalized groups are not taken into account.
• Location: Housing is not adequate if it is cut off from employment opportunities, health-care services, schools, childcare centres and other social facilities, or if located in polluted or dangerous areas.
• Cultural adequacy: Housing is not adequate if it does not respect and take into account the expression of cultural identity.

Please take a look at the United Nations website for further insight.