The entities also fail to find apartments for abused women or people with disabilities.

BarcelonaNot only are they exorbitant prices in the free housing market wave scarcity of public promotions, social organizations also encounter a difficult barrier to overcome in the reluctance of owners when it comes to renting out apartments to vulnerable groups. Some explain that everything is going well until it is revealed that the apartment will be used to house an abused woman and her children, a group of people with disabilities or mental illness, or a family with limited financial resources.

Óscar Giménez, head of infrastructure and logistics at theIn Via association, who has had to hear how he couldn't even see the apartment with the excuse that "the owner won't want these tenants because he's looking for a normal family profile." With residential exclusion further aggravated, the third sector is appealing to the "solidarity" of the owners because it needs to grow in 1,500 homes in the social housing pool, according to the latest data from 2021.

On the website of the Mambré Foundation There's a tab on the homepage with a direct question: Do you have a home available? This foundation focuses on recruiting and managing social housing and offers it to around twenty organizations. Maira Costa Casas is the Foundation's director of social programs, and although she points out that the first major drawback is the lack of supply, she also notes the "fear" of homeowners to interact with organizations that have a social purpose.

It's a fear often based on "prejudice," says Lluís Puigdemont, director of the Girona-based foundation. SERGI Foundation and a member of the housing working group of Catalan Social Action Entities (ECAS). All the heads of entities consulted by this newspaper agree on prejudices and also "stigmas" that society attaches to groups categorized as difficult. "If the property or real estate agency could hold a casting call, everyone would choose a specific profile," Puigdemont emphasizes, noting that in this way—with the rejection of a certain population—"urban segregation" has been supported and "neighborhoods" have been "protected" by setting unaffordable prices for the majority.

Insurance and mediation

In these cases, it is the social organizations that sign the rental contract for the housing, not the families. But even the fact that the organizations prove financial solvency to cover the monthly payment is not enough for the owners, Puigdemont indicates. Furthermore, these organizations provide more guarantees, such as returning the home in the same condition as it was delivered, once the contract ends or if the owner urgently needs it. Giménez even indicates that they also take care of small repairs or damage with "multi-risk insurance," adds SERGI.

Costa states that this fear of difference leads to tense situations because "out of prejudice," if there is an incident on the scale, the other residents are quick to "point the finger at the tenants" of the social security system, even if nothing incriminates them. They also try to remedy this with mediation groups between both parties or social monitoring and support for their users. Problems can arise, but Costa points out that "surely in communities where there is There is more conflict in tourist apartments and inconvenience," with the aggravating factor that the owners do not usually act as intermediaries or educate their customers.

More waiting lists

Giménez recounts how often, when she explains that In Via supports women survivors of domestic violence, she encounters rejection, which she attributes to "lack of knowledge of how a shelter works and fear of what could happen" if the abuser appears. In reality, these apartments are a refuge for these women, who know they cannot reveal their location, precisely to protect them, their children, or the other women with whom they share the space. Even when the association is willing to pay the market price, there is a rejection of the offer, which causes the demand to grow. the list of women hoping to leave a community resource.

In the cooperative TEB of the Barcelona neighborhood of Sant Andreu They have also had to deal with distrust from neighbors, not only when they have been able to access housing to build an apartment for the people with intellectual disabilities they accompany. They have also had to deal with distrust from neighbors when it comes to building a home or a residence on a plot of land and the neighbors have "put sticks in their wheels" by alleging in the process of obtaining building permits. "Your heart tells you that you should report these cases," says the director of cooperative promotion of the entity, Pepa Muñoz, who does not do so to prevent coexistence from worsening and, above all, to avoid "more stigmatization." The person in charge attributes the neighbors' behavior to "fear of their homes being devalued," just as happens when the decision is made to installation of a venipuncture room or one reception center for unaccompanied minors.