Work From Home as a Solution to the Housing Crisis ?

Access to Decent and Affordable Housing is a Fundamental Human Right!

Access to decent and affordable housing is a fundamental human right, yet it is threatened by a global crisis with multiple ramifications. This crisis is characterized by a shortage of housing, exorbitant prices, unhealthy living conditions and increasing insecurity for many households.

In the past, families lived in spacious houses offering comfort and privacy: several bedrooms, bathrooms, airy kitchen, garden or balcony to breathe fresh air.

Today, crampedness and exorbitant cost

Failed urban planning, concentrating industrial and administrative areas, has disrupted living conditions. Forced to live in cramped rooms, sometimes sharing the space with strangers, citizens pay the high price for this erroneous planning.

Harmful consequences

This crisis seriously impacts the well-being of individuals and families:

• Social exclusion and precariousness: Poorly housed people suffer discrimination and marginalization.

• Physical and mental health threatened: Unhealthiness and stress related to the search for housing are harmful to health.

• Access to education and employment compromised: Residential mobility and instability hinder school success and professional integration.

Reviewing urban planning is often complicated and difficult to achieve, so why not look for effective and practical solutions to restore this human right!

Work from home can help mitigate the housing crisis in several ways:

Even if not all professions are suitable, many sectors can adopt work from home or a hybrid mode, such as IT, communication, education and administration...

1. Reduce the demand for housing in urban areas:

By allowing workers to live and work anywhere, work from home can reduce the demand for housing in large cities, where prices are often exorbitant.

This can also help revitalize rural and peri-urban areas by attracting new residents and stimulating the local economy.

2. Reduce the need for office space:

With work from home, companies need less office space, which may encourage them to reduce the size of their premises or convert them into housing.

This can also help reduce real estate costs for businesses and employees.

Let's take the example of a company that rents 1000 square meters of office space for 50 employees. If half of these employees adopt full-time work from home or a hybrid work schedule, the company could reduce the size of its premises by half, saving 50% of its rental costs.

Similarly, employees who work from home can save on transportation and food costs, which represents a significant financial gain.

In conclusion, work from home is not a miracle solution, but it proves to be a valuable tool to combat the housing crisis and build a more flexible and inclusive future.

Encouraging the development of work from home options, while supporting companies and workers in its implementation, is crucial to meet this major challenge.

Let us not forget that access to decent and affordable housing is a fundamental right for all. Work from home can help make this dream a reality.