In instances where the underpinning land has been acquired by the owner as private property or alternatively has been converted into private property under the law on privatisation of non-agricultural land passed in 2021, it appears to offer a greater level of protection. Article 36 of the latter law states that redemption of privately owned land for public purposes ‘is carried out only with the written consent of the land plot owner’ and based on the sales-andpurchase agreement between the state and the property owner.23 At the same time, the last paragraph of the article notes that disagreements on the conclusion of the agreement is ‘subject to resolution in court’. The provision conflicts with the civil law principle of the ‘freedom of contracts’ enshrined in article 354 of the Uzbek Civil Code, where parties are free to enter into agreements. The provision appears to provide a “loophole” for a government to enter into the agreement through the courts. 14 A False Sense of Legality A common thread throughout the legal reform process in Uzbekistan is that privately owned homes can only be compulsorily acquired by the state for a prescribed number of public purposes. And in those circumscribed cases a set of procedures must be followed. Additionally, it is clear that there are no legal grounds in which privately owned homes can be compulsorily acquired by the state for the benefit of a private party, such as a property developer. It is important to note that housing rights are also protected in international human rights law, which places an obligation on the state as the legitimate public authority to ensure these rights are upheld. These obligations are summarised in Table 1, which features an extract taken from the UN Basic Principles and Guidelines on Development-Based Evictions and Displacement.