The Housing Justice National Platform for a Homes Guarantee is a coalition of advocacy groups that support a common platform to increase the amount of government-funded, operated, and owned housing in the United States.

The organization subscribes to far-left policy positions across issues and has the position that housing policy should be enacted to be similar to well-known left-of-center priorities such as “universal healthcare, sanctuary for immigrants, free college and a Green New Deal.” Alliance for Housing Justice, a left-of-center housing policy organization that is itself a project of the San Francisco-based public interest law firm and left-leaning think tank and lobbying group Public Advocates, put forward the Platform. ¹

Background

The Housing Justice National Platform was founded to outline an agenda to promote far-left policies surrounding housing and promotes socializing housing. The platform states that housing is a “human right, not simply a commodity to be bought and sold for profit.” The platform was formulated to provide central talking points on far-left housing policy by and for several notable national left-leaning organizations such as the Center for Popular Democracy and People’s Action and has been signed onto by 80 other national, state, and local groups. ²

The platform has five basic pillars which include creating millions of “community controlled” housing units that are not part of the housing market, disallowing the displacement of those who are unable to pay rent or mortgage, and paying reparations to minority communities are among the most radical positions of the platform. The platform also includes creating a Green New Deal, a push to “decommodify housing”, and regulating the financial industry. ³

New York Homes Guarantee

Among the main areas of importance for the Housing Justice National Platform is New York City. The platform also operates a website that outlines a New York City-specific platform it calls the New York Homes Guarantee, which supports the same concepts of socialized housing. The New York platform has three basic pillars which call for various far-left housing policies and enactment of specific pieces of city legislation. Priorities of the New York Housing Guarantee include universal rent control, legislation to make it more difficult to evict tenants, 20,000 units of supportive housing, $3 billion in government funding for housing, and prohibiting landlords charging tenants for major capital improvements. The New York Homes Guarantee also promotes taxing the rich to fund housing, stating a need to “redistribute wealth.” ⁴

1. “Housing Justice Platform” Accessed June 26, 2020. https://www.housingjusticeplatform.org/
2. Ross, Tracey. “The Growing Movement For Housing Justice “. Essence. March 16, 2020. Accessed June 26, 2020. https://www.essence.com/news/housing-justice/
3. Ross, Tracey. “The Growing Movement For Housing Justice “. Essence. March 16, 2020. Accessed June 26, 2020. https://www.essence.com/news/housing-justice/
4. “New York Homes Guarantee”. Housing Justice Platform. Accessed June 26, 2020. https://www.housingjusticeforall.org/our-platform#