You must not be discriminated against in access to housing regardless of whether it is provided by the state, a municipality or a private provider.
Discrimination in access to state and municipal housing in Slovakia is prohibited on any grounds.
important Providers of private housing are bound by the prohibition of discrimination only if they are service providers and if consumer protection law applies to them. For example, where someone rents out houses or apartments as a business.
Discrimination in providing access to housing may include cases where a service provider refuses to rent out a house or apartment, makes degrading or insulting remarks or offers you different terms in the contract, such as a higher price just because you belong to a group of people with certain characteristics.
example Discrimination may occur where a landlord refuses to rent an apartment to a person just because he/she is black or belongs to a sexual minority, such as homosexuals.
However, different treatment in the choice of tenants is allowed if housing is provided privately and not as a part of business.
example It will not be considered discrimination where an elderly lady feels more comfortable and wants to rent out a room in her apartment to a female student.
In Slovakia, the Anti-discrimination Act prohibits discrimination on all protected grounds only in conjunction with special laws existing in the area of access to and provision of goods and services including housing which are provided to the public by legal entities and natural persons – entrepreneurs.
What human rights violations may there be?
The prohibition of discrimination will be violated if you are denied housing or offered individual, more disadvantageous terms in a contract only because you possess certain characteristics which are recognized as prohibited grounds, such as age, religion or race.
In Slovakia, the above cited requirement of conjunction with special laws in adjudicating discrimination in access to housing may cause problems when the right to housing and related rights is regulated under other types of generally binding legal acts (such as ministerial decrees, generally binding decrees of self-governing bodies or municipalities). The Slovak Constitution does not include the right to housing as such, it only guarantees the sanctity of one’s home and the right to maintain and protect one’s dignity. Moreover, the Slovak Republic opted out of the provision on the right to housing in the Revised European Social Charter.
Housing of Roma – special challenge in Slovakia
Generally, there is a significant problem in Slovakia with the housing of some Roma communities – on one hand, most of them only can afford a lower-standard social housing, on the other hand their dwellings are usually segregated from the core settlement, with a much lower standard of infrastructure and services. Many shelters are “illegal”, i.e., built on parcels with unidentified owners or with a complicated owners’ structure. There is no obligation of the State or the municipality to provide alternative housing to the dwellers of these “illegal” shelters in case of forced evictions/dislodgment.
In 2014, the mayors of two municipalities in Slovakia ordered a forced demolition of such colonies of illegal shelters, invoking the Waste Disposal Act. This was severely criticised by the Ombudsperson who stated a violation of fundamental human rights of dwellers. The practice was subsequently halted.
COVID-19 – related issues
Another burning issue is the situation of right to adequate housing or shelter for homeless people or people in different crisis situations, such as those being victims of domestic violence or facing execution.
In Slovakia there is no general ban on evictions during the winter period. Only in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic the law enabled the postponement of executions by up to 6 months, if the execution would have very serious consequences for the dwellers. However, this provision was applicable only for executions launched after 12 March 2020. Providers of housing were prohibited to terminate contracts with tenants for delays in payments caused by circumstances related to COVID-19 in the period of 1 April – 30 June 2020. The ban was effective until 31 December 2020.
How to complain
If you believe that you may have been discriminated against by a private housing business, you may file a complaint to the or to the court of general jurisdiction.
If you believe that you have been discriminated against by a state or municipal authority in charge of housing, you may also submit a complaint to a higher institution, and afterwards, to the court.
Read more about how to complain.