Snapshot of Housing Shortage Impact on Irish Businesses

Businesses in Ireland are continuing to be impacted by the lack of housing supply. According to a new survey from the Galway Chamber, four out of five businesses in Galway say a lack of accommodation is impacting their ability to hire staff, 70% say it is impacting staff retention and seven out of ten have reduced their hiring targets due to the housing issue.

Galway Chamber represents businesses in Galway City and County. Galway City is the Republic of Ireland’s fourth most populous city and the largest urban area in the country’s western region.

For local businesses in the tech sector as many as nine out of ten are finding their hiring practices affected by the limited supply of housing.

72% of businesses in Galway say potential hires or existing staff have cited the inability to find accommodation since the turn of the year.  Three out of four businesses say existing staff or potential new hires have said rent locally is too expensive during the same period and a further 54% have been told by staff/ potential hires there are no properties for rent in their price range.

Across the country, Ireland’s housing crisis has been ongoing for a number of years due to a potent combination of shortage in housing supply, rising prices, and complex planning laws. The rental sector is also impacted and is experiencing a serious shortage in availability.

According to Galway Chamber, 47% of Galway businesses say the difficulties recruiting and retaining staff due to limited accommodation will ‘definitely’ impact on their plans to invest in Galway.

85% of Galway businesses also said that if public transport to Galway’s commuter towns was more frequent or reliable it would assist their hiring and retention efforts.

The survey was conducted by Galway Chamber over two weeks in early April 2023. Just over 200 businesses from across Galway City and County participated.

Speaking about the survey results, Galway Chamber CEO Kenny Deery said, ‘As these survey results lay bare, the housing crisis is having a real impact on business in Galway and the local business environment. The problems people are facing finding accommodation for themselves and their families are making it increasingly difficult for our local businesses to secure and retain staff. These aren’t isolated stories, this has become the norm and it is impacting businesses of all shapes and sizes – from start-ups to multinationals and from tech and pharma businesses to professional services and retail. Everyone is feeling the accommodation pinch.’

Image by Eoin Gardiner/Via Openverse/CC BY 2.0