“Renting a room is no longer a temporary alternative: it’s become a permanent solution”
This morning, Barcelona Caritas and Esade’s adequate housing observatory (OVD) presented their report entitled “Exclusió compartida, viure en una habitació en un context d'exclusió residencial i social” (Shared exclusion: living in a room against the backdrop of social and housing exclusion) based on 62 in-depth interviews of 50 people and 4 discussion groups with a total of 36 members. Most of the interviews involved persons in Barcelona and its metropolitan area, although some were conducted in the cities of Girona, Lleida and Tarragona.
“The main aim of this study is to understand, raise awareness and expose the reality of people renting rooms against a backdrop of social and housing marginalization,” explained Guillermo Oteros, an officer at the Caritas Barcelona Social Reality Observatory. In this respect, Caritas pointed out that more than 50,000 people attended by the ten Caritas offices in Catalonia in 2023 lived in rented rooms.
The Caritas-Esade study outlines the characteristics of this type of housing marginalization and its impact on people’s everyday life. “The difficulties of being unable to access housing add to the other problems faced by socially marginalized persons. This situation must feature in the public debate with a view to implementing measures that enshrine the human right to adequate housing,” declared Ignasi Martí, director of the Esade OVD.
The authors of the report point out that renting a room has shifted from being a temporary measure to a permanent solution. “Increasing difficulties in accessing and retaining adequate housing mean that renting a room in a shared flat is the only option for many socially marginalized people,” they explained. Legal uncertainty is one of the problems caused by this situation because most people do not have a written contract. “The possibility of losing your accommodation overnight causes a constant state of anxiety and instability. Any disagreement with your landlord could cause you to immediately lose your accommodation,” said Oteros. Such living arrangements also make it difficult to register as a resident with the local authorities because the landlord or the tenant named in the rental contract may refuse to allow you to do so or complicate matters. As a result, you may, for example, be unable to enroll your child in the local school or be refused attention at a heath center, among other things.
“Sharing a home with non-family members, living in a small room and having restrictions all create an unsettling feeling that prevents people from getting on with their lives. A lack of personal space affects the ability to carry out daily activities in a safe, comfortable environment,” went on Martí. Not having a place of your own in which to unwind, rest or think, in addition to restrictions on the use of shared spaces, can cause constant stress and finally have a negative impact on one’s intimacy, quality of life and even mental and emotional health. “The uncertainty of whether it will be possible to continue living in the dwelling, the problems arising from shared accommodation and the restrictions on the use of shared spaces are a cause of constant worry and anxiety which, if they last for an extended period, can become unbearable and affect the mental and emotional health of the adults and children living there.”
Likewise, restrictions regarding the use of the kitchen, living room, bathroom and other household facilities such as the washing machine or wifi can negatively impact everyday life, particularly in the case of families with children. In this respect, the authors of the report issue a warning about the impact that a lack of adequate housing can have on children. “The effort that families with children must make to adapt to living in a room is even more difficult. They live in a small place with no stimulation and nowhere to explore, learn, play or do homework. The lack of a suitable place can impact children’s behavior and their emotional and cognitive development,” they said.
Finally, the director of Caritas Barcelona, Eduard Sala, appealed to each and every public authority to remedy structural shortfalls in the housing market. “We need to reclaim the social function of housing and regard it as a right rather than a speculative investment,” he said. Sala called for an increase in affordable rental housing, and incentives to encourage owners to charge rents below the market rate, such as rent payment guarantees and tax relief. He also called for increased spending on housing in relation to GDP, in order to match the European average.
Sala ended his talk by appealing for the creation of places and projects where people can get involved and build community support networks. “In response to vertical shanty towns, i.e., rooms to rent, the authorities and other entities must help these people settle in the neighborhood and forge links with the community. The impact of living in a non-place such as a room or on a sofa or in a dwelling that is not a home is very harmful, and we have discovered the need to have common spaces where people can get together, interact and form a community,” he concluded.
