An online advert by a real estate agency has cast a light on the difficulties faced by African people when trying to rent a place in Malta. 

Seguna Property Rental has placed three adverts on the website MaltaPark, advertising long-let property in Qormi and Qrendi with the tagline ‘Africans Welcome’, a clear sign many landlords refuse to rent out their places to African people.  

Details about the property aren’t specified, but the high monthly prices charged – €950 for the Qrendi place and €850 for one of the Qormi ones indicate they are properties with three or more bedrooms. 

Sub-Saharan African migrants in Malta are renowned for not being choosy about their living conditions, with some apartments having as many as ten Africans crammed into them. As recently reported by Lovin Malta, some have also resorted to sleeping inside stables. 

The ad was posted on a Facebook group for immigrants in Malta, where it received a mixed response. Some people argued the advert should have read everyone is welcome despite their nationality, while others said the real estate agency is just advertising that it is filling a gap in the market caused by many landlords refusing Africans as tenants.

One man said landlords have every right to discriminate as they please when it comes to deciding which people to rent their property out too, and indeed noted some property owners refuse to rent out their property to Maltese tenants

Have you heard of similar cases of rent discrimination? Please e-mail us at [email protected]

READ NEXT: Maltese People Face Discrimination When Trying To Rent Properties In Malta

Tim Diacono

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]