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Pimec Says Spain’s Housing Shortage Is Now Undermining Business Competitiveness

The employers’ group says higher housing and transport costs are driving wage pressure, forcing firms to absorb extra bills and constraining company growth.

Overview

  • Pimec published a survey of about 400 companies on Wednesday showing 98% view their local housing market as "tensioned" and that 63% of small and medium firms have trouble filling vacancies.
  • The study separates causes and finds 56% of hiring problems stem from travel time, transport cost or poor public‑transport links, while roughly one third point to lack of affordable housing near jobs.
  • Eighty‑three percent of companies report rising housing costs are pushing up wage demands and 57% say they already absorb extra staff housing or mobility costs.
  • Among firms that assumed extra costs, Pimec reports an average additional bill of about €5,500 per month and says one in two companies has limited, postponed or abandoned growth decisions because of the situation.
  • To respond, Pimec and major housing bodies publicly proposed a Pacto Transversal para la Vivienda with ten measures including a stable regulatory framework, raising public housing investment toward 0.7% of GDP, land mobilization, public‑private cooperation and faster permitting.