Brazilian immigrants are taking out bank loans to rent homes in Portugal.

According to a representative of Casa do Brasil in Lisbon, immigrants from Brazil face discrimination when renting in Portugal. Some are even forced to take out loans to pay for 12 months' rent upfront.

Housing problems for immigrants

In an interview with the Lusa agency in Lisbon, Quintia de Paula said that housing problems are "a universal phenomenon nowadays, not only in Portugal but also in other countries," but she emphasized that they are of particular importance for immigrants, and in particular for Brazilians.

The large number of Brazilian immigrants

First, this is because the Brazilian immigrant community is the largest in the country according to the''official data and includes about 400,000 people. Moreover, many of the newly arrived immigrants are vulnerable in the labor market.

Prejudices and stereotypes

The problem, however, according to Quintia de Paula, is not only the low wages and precarious work of Brazilian immigrants, but also "a lot of prejudice and stereotypes" on the part of landlords toward this community and Brazilian women in particular. She noted that there is still a prejudice that they will use the housing for sexual activity.

Problems of access to housing

But the problem of access to housing in Portugal does not only affect immigrants, but all people, as Casa do Brasil pointed out. However''for immigrants the situation is much more complicated, especially for members of certain nationalities.

Problems with required documents

In addition, many immigrants face problems when trying to rent a home due to a lack of necessary documents such as tax returns. Quintia de Paula noted that many are forced to live in rooms because the requirements for this type of housing are lower, but even here they face problems because''often enter into agreements without contracts and live in undignified conditions.

Eviction problems

Some of the immigrants even find that when they are evicted from a room, they do not get their deposits and prepayments back, and face harassment from landlords.

Collective housing as a forced measure

Because of this situation, many people are forced to adopt collective living as a forced measure because they cannot afford to rent separate accommodation. This, according to Quintia de Paula, should be seen as a problem that needs to be addressed at the level of public policy.

Renting beds

She also noted that many landlords offer''renting individual beds in rooms to migrants at a cost of 350 euros, which allows four or five people to be accommodated in one room.

She concluded her speech by pointing out that immigrants also face problems in obtaining loans to buy their own homes.