A/HRC/37/53 persons and to urge cities to recognize their rights to use public spaces, have access to basic sanitary facilities and carry out practices necessary for survival. 20 47. In England, under the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, local governments are required to carry out a homelessness review, adopt a homelessness strategy and provide housing to those deemed to be a priority. Also, under the Equality Act 2010, social housing providers and all local governmental authorities in England are required to comply with the “equality duty” to adopt measurable equality objectives. C. Principle 3: comprehensive and whole-of-government 48. Rights-based housing strategies must ensure that all dimensions of the right to adequate housing are addressed in diverse contexts. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has defined the right to adequate housing as the right to live in security, peace and dignity. Within that broad definition, the Committee has identified seven key features of adequate housing in its general comment No. 4: legal security of tenure; affordability; habitability; availability of services; accessibility; location; and cultural adequacy. Other dimensions of “adequacy” have been articulated to ensure coverage, for example, of the housing experiences of persons with disabilities and women.21 49. Each component of adequacy gives rise to particular obligations. For example, affordability requires measures such as rent regulation, housing subsidies, access to credit, and measures to prevent speculation; access to services requires the provision of water and sanitation, childcare and health services; and security of tenure requires a host of measures, such as strengthening diverse tenure forms — for example, formal/informal, individual/collective, customary, rental/ownership — prioritizing in situ solutions and combating discrimination on the basis of tenure, which are explained in the guidelines on security of tenure for the urban poor.22 50. Strategies should address all issues that have a significant impact on the right to housing, including land-grabbing, speculation, privatization, predatory lending, environmental degradation and vulnerability to floods, fires or earthquakes. 51. Housing strategies must engage multiple programmes, policies and spheres of government. They must ensure coordination among a host of areas from income support and land use to social housing programmes to finance. 52. Housing strategies must also engage multiple levels of government, from the local to the national, drawing on the strengths of each. The responsibilities of each level of government need to be delineated and clearly linked to human rights obligations. 53. A number of approaches can be taken to coordinate the multiple spheres and levels of government that must be engaged in rights-based housing strategies. A lead ministry or department may be assigned to coordinate. Intergovernmental agreements should recognize shared obligations and clarify responsibilities. Where there is uncertainty regarding who has jurisdiction or responsibility, action should be taken first to protect the right at stake, after which time disputes may be considered and resolved. 54. Strategies must address the needs of diverse populations wherever they live — in urban, rural or peri-urban areas — regardless of their tenure status and including those who have been displaced or who have lost housing because of conflict or disaster. 55. Strategies must engage diverse actors whose actions may affect the right to adequate housing, including not only governments but also private actors, international financial and investment agencies, and bilateral and multilateral donors. 20 21 22 See Fondation Abbé Pierre, Housing Rights Watch, FEANTSA, “Template for a homeless bill of rights”. Available from www.housingrightswatch.org/sites/default/files/Template%20Homeless%20Bill%20of%20Rights%2 0EN.pdf. See A/72/128, paras. 8–32; and A/HRC/19/53, paras. 12–13. See A/HRC/25/54, A/HRC/4/18 and A/72/128. 9