New Working Paper: The subjective right to housing – conditional for the administration, perfect for jurisprudence

This new Working Paper was presented in written and oral form during the 1st International Congress on Housing and City, held in Barcelona and organized by the CBEH in May 2025 (https://cbeh.cat/es/noticia/i-congreso-internacional-de-vivienda-y-ciudad/) and has been revised by the author for publication.

This study examines the eight years that have passed since Law 2/2017 – on the social function of housing in the Valencian Community, an exception in the national landscape alongside the Navarre and Basque cases – recognized the subjective right to housing and the correlative legal obligation for the administration to fully satisfy it.

However, the 2007 law has not resolved one of the main problems directly affecting citizens. The imperfection of its effectiveness demonstrates its apprehension by the executive power as a right conditioned by budgetary possibilities.

Conversely, however, judicial bodies have already issued the first rulings recognizing a perfect subjective right, without the limitation of resources justifying the exclusion of its effectiveness, as analyzed in the paper.