In its submission of September 2026, the Streetlawyer Association (SLA) draws attention to shortcomings in the protection of social rights in Hungary, particularly in relation to poverty, the housing crisis and social welfare. In the Association’s view, government policies pursued over the past 16 years have further aggravated these problems, which affect not only minority communities but also broader segments of society. The SLA considers that the Hungarian Government’s national report for the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) does not adequately address the implementation of previous recommendations concerning poverty.
The Association makes four key recommendations:
1. Constitutional recognition of the right to housing
Hungary’s Fundamental Law does not currently recognise an enforceable right to adequate housing, meaning that the state’s and local governments’ housing-related obligations remain largely policy objectives. This provides insufficient legal protection for people facing eviction, unaffordable housing costs or homelessness.
The SLA therefore recommends that the Government commit to considering the explicit recognition of the right to housing in the Constitution as part of the envisaged constitution-making process.
2. Reform of the social welfare system and ensuring a minimum standard of living
The HUF 28,500 threshold used in determining eligibility for social benefits has remained unchanged since 2008. Due to inflation, it is no longer sufficient to ensure an adequate standard of living, despite serving as a reference amount for calculating almost all social benefits.
The SLA calls for a comprehensive reform of the social welfare system and concrete measures to ensure the effective protection of social rights. Benefit levels should be determined using an adequate, regularly updated methodology and systematically indexed to inflation.
3. Repeal of the Act on the Protection of Local Identity
The Act, which entered into force in 2025, allows municipalities to impose various conditions on newcomers, including criteria relating to income, assets, employment and housing. These rules may disproportionately disadvantage people with low incomes and Roma communities, increasing the risk of indirect discrimination, social exclusion and residential segregation.
The SLA therefore calls for the repeal of the Act.
4. Ending the criminalisation of homelessness
The Fundamental Law and misdemeanor legislation continue to prohibit habitual residence in public spaces. Although the Constitutional Court annulled provisions criminalising homelessness in 2012, the legislation was subsequently given a constitutional basis, and a nationwide prohibition has been in force since 2018.
The SLA calls for the prompt repeal of the relevant legislation, in accordance with the protection of human dignity, the Constitutional Court’s earlier case law and Hungary’s international human rights obligations.
The submission can be accessed here.
Photo: Wikipedia
