Estate agents are divided on how common discrimination is within the rental sector but agree that, in a seller’s market, landlords have the final say.
Pointing to “cultural differences” between Maltese and some third-country nationals as one reason for discrimination, most real estate professionals say that, while they might not agree with a landlord’s preferences, they have to adhere to their requests.
And while one estate agent insists his company “won’t work with racists”, most industry professionals Times of Malta spoke to said they tell clients the property is no longer available if a landlord insists on not renting to a person based on their nationality.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for members of the Indian community said South Asians are “more often than not” turned down when applying to rent a property and told: “We do not want to rent to Indians.”
Housing discrimination hit the headlines last week when Alliance Real Estate blamed one of its property adverts warning “no Pakis, Indians, Arabs and Philippines” (sic) on an internal memo that had been published by mistake.
A spokesperson for the company said it was “not uncommon for landlords to impose restrictions on the types of tenants they would accept living in their properties” and that the company was obligated to follow such restrictions.
But Neil Falzon, director of human rights NGO Aditus, said the law was “crystal clear” that restricting access to housing based on nationality was illegal.
One industry source told Times of Malta such discrimination was widespread but “more common among landlords with multiple properties who rely on them for their income”.
“The first thing they’ll ask is the nationality, then about any kids and pets. They tell us [their requirements] and what can we do? The demand is greater than the supply, so landlords can pick and choose,” the source said.
“It’s a bit of a minefield... on one side it’s wrong but that’s the business we’re in – and that business is doing very well at the moment.”
But Dhalia CEO Alan Grima called the Alliance case an “isolated” incident and said landlords with such restrictions represented a fraction of the total.
And QuickLets and Zanzi Homes founder Steve Mercieca said that while he had been “shocked” by the levels of discrimination when he entered the sector, it was “not as widespread as it used to be”.
However, he said the company “doesn’t have any control over what landlords allow... there’s a sentiment in Malta that certain nationalities have lower incomes and bring more tenants than planned”.
RE/MAX chairperson Kevin Buttigieg agrees, noting it wasn’t uncommon to rent to a person of a particular third-country nationality, only to end up with three or four additional people sharing the apartment.
Pointing to “cultural differences” such as odours from certain cuisines as reasons for landlords refusing tenants of certain nationalities, he said attitudes to such differences were “unfortunate but that’s the way it is”.
While Buttigieg wouldn’t be drawn on how common discrimination was in the sector, saying it was “difficult to tell” and depended on the area, he said real estate agents’ hands were tied.
“At the end of the day, the landlord is the landlord, and they can do what they want; it’s a difficult situation.”
Pressed on the legality of landlords discriminating when letting out a property, Buttigieg said: “In my opinion, it is against the law but we are not going against the law ourselves [as letting agents]”.
‘Landlords often reject Indians’
A spokesperson for the Malta Malayalee Association said landlords “often reject Indians from renting their apartment just because of where we are from”.
Owners do not hide behind any excuses, he said, adding that seeing adverts explicitly excluding Indians was also common.
“When we saw that Alliance had an advert prohibiting Indians, Pakistanis and others, we were not surprised,” the spokesperson said.
Landlords are spoilt for choice; within a few hours they’ll have various tenants to choose from.... there’s an under-supply [of properties]
Addressing fears that South Asian cooking can leave behind strong odours, he said landlords often charged higher prices to tenants from South Asia as a result.
“Indians end up paying a premium for housing… Very often, we spend half our wage or more on housing.”
‘A white lie’
When faced with restrictive landlords, Buttigieg said he would tell prospective tenants a “white lie and say the property isn’t available” while offering to show them somewhere else instead.
And Grima said that while Dhalia would still contact landlords about such tenants and supply references where possible to help applications, prospective tenants would be told the property was “not available” if the landlord insisted.
“Landlords are spoilt for choice; within a few hours they’ll have various tenants to choose from.... there’s an under-supply [of properties].”
He said such incidents were rare, however, adding discrimination was not confined to third-country nationals and that there had been similar requests in relation to European tenants in the past too. Grima noted that such requirements had become less prevalent over time, pointing to changes to rent laws limiting the number of tenants per property as having put the minds of landlords at ease.
Meanwhile, Mercieca said that his company would “try to change their mind” if a landlord asked to exclude prospective tenants based on their race or nationality – but refuse their business if they didn’t.
“We blacklist people who are racist, also because they’re not as easy to deal with. We won’t work with racists,” he said.
‘Laws need major overhaul’
Pointing to the company’s experience in Cyprus, Spain and Portugal, Mercieca said that in other countries rental properties were managed by a third party, meaning landlords rarely met tenants.
“When properties are managed it’s always better; they’re more organised and it means tenants don’t have to deal with hot-headed owners... because the tenants never meet the landlords,” he said, calling for such an approach in Malta.
Buttigieg thinks rental laws need a “major overhaul,” arguing for increased protections for both tenants and landlords.
“I would go a step further and say there should be some kind of court to make quick decisions in cases of disputes between landlord and tenants,” he said.
“This is really needed as it’s a serious business; a landlord invests his money in the property and needs protection and, at the same time, a tenant pays good rent for the property and needs protection. I believe this will solve a lot of problems.”
When asked what steps were being taken to address housing discrimination, a housing ministry spokesperson pointed to the publication of “anti-discrimination information sheets” as a measure taken by the ministry to address the issue.
The National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE) said it was planning to repeat a study into housing discrimination which, when last carried out in 2012, found “numerous examples of direct and indirect housing discrimination in Malta”.