As if being self-employed in Spain, aka ‘autonomo’, is not complicated enough, a new study as shed light on yet another downside.
Nearly half of the country’s self-employed workers (49%) say they’ve faced obstacles when trying to rent a home, simply because of their employment status.
That’s the key finding from new research by the Autonomous Work Observatory, led by the labour organisation UATAE.
According to the report, being self-employed – a legal, constitutionally protected way of working – has effectively become a barrier to accessing housing, as landlords increasingly demand fixed incomes, additional deposits, or reject applicants without permanent contracts.
The findings highlight a systemic problem in which freelancers and small business owners are being viewed as high-risk tenants, regardless of their financial stability.
While salaried workers often only need to present a recent payslip, freelancers face stricter requirements.
These often include being asked for larger deposits, longer proof of income or being outright rejected for lacking a ‘secure’ paycheck.
‘This affects 49% of self-employed people we surveyed,’ UATAE reports, adding that it was more about ‘perception’ of landlords than the tenants’ ‘solvency’.
Silent discrimination
UATAE has branded the situation as discrimination, which it says equates income variability with unreliability.
The group warns that many of those impacted are just starting out, or have stable long-term income that doesn’t look conventional on paper.
And yet, they’re being systematically denied access to the rental market, which UATAE argues is a violation of basic rights.
UATAE’s proposals for change
To counter what it calls ‘structural exclusion’, UATAE is pushing for immediate reforms, including:
- Stronger social protections to increase financial security for the self-employed
- Legal safeguards to prevent discriminatory rental practices
- Expansion of public housing programmes that eliminate bias based on employment type
‘These workers are vital to the economy,’ says UATAE, ‘and deserve equal access to something as fundamental as a home.’
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
