Economic land scarcity has reached record levels in France, with a rapidly growing share of intercommunal authorities forced to turn away business investment projects or losing companies because of a lack of available land. According to a study released on Wednesday by Intercommunalités de France, the Banque des Territoires and Cerema, 81% of local intercommunal bodies said they had faced this situation between 2022 and 2025, up from 67% in 2022. That represents a worrying increase of 14 percentage points in less than three years.
The report says the main obstacle to economic development is not a shortage of business projects in local areas, but the growing inability to free up economic land quickly enough to match investment timelines. In other words, many territories still have interest from businesses, but they cannot offer land that is ready in time for companies seeking to build or expand.
The study emphasizes that what is needed is land that is truly available in the short term: fully prepared, serviced, legally secured and operationally ready, similar to the concept of turnkey industrial sites. Without that level of readiness, local governments risk missing investment opportunities and seeing companies choose other locations.
Sébastien Miossec, deputy president of Intercommunalités de France, said the biggest bottleneck is not the absence of economic ambition in the territories, but the increasing difficulty of making directly usable land available within timeframes compatible with corporate projects.
The findings highlight a broader challenge for local development policy in France, where economic attractiveness depends increasingly on the ability of municipalities and intercommunal bodies to identify, prepare and unlock land for industrial and commercial use. As demand persists, the gap between available projects and usable land appears to be widening, putting pressure on local authorities to accelerate planning, permitting and land preparation processes.
The study draws attention to the strategic importance of land supply for business retention and industrial investment. When local authorities cannot provide plots that are ready for development, they may lose projects to other regions or countries that can move faster. The issue is therefore not only about territorial planning, but also about competitiveness, job creation and long-term economic growth.
The report’s conclusions suggest that France’s challenge is less about encouraging investment and more about making it physically possible. Local authorities are being asked to reconcile environmental, legal and planning constraints with the need to host new projects, a balance that is becoming harder to maintain as demand for suitable land continues.
Overall, the study paints a clear picture of a tightening economic land market in France, where the shortage is no longer theoretical but is directly affecting the ability of communities to attract and keep businesses.
