Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, publishes today the figures on building permits until February 2021.
Monthly evolution
This month, building permits were issued for 2,452 new residential buildings. Compared to January 2021, this is a decrease of 2.3%.
In the Flemish Region, 1,818 permits were issued for new residential buildings, i.e. a decrease of 4.1%.
The number of permits issued for new residential buildings has increased by 3.5% to 622 in the Walloon Region.
In the Brussels-Capital Region, the number of permits issued for new residential buildings remained at the same level.
Monthly figures - number of permits for new residential buildings + evolution compared to the previous period
| Month | Belgium | Flemish Region | Walloon Region | Brussels-Capital Region | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 1 | 2,568 | 1,921 | 634 | 0.0% | 13 | |||
| 2020 | 2 | 2,435 | (-5.2%) | 1,944 | (+1.2%) | 476 | (-24.9%) | 14 | (+7.7%) |
| 2020 | 3 | 3,192 | (+31.1%) | 2,565 | (+31.9%) | 613 | (+28.8%) | 14 | (0.0%) |
| 2020 | 4 | 2,174 | (-31.9%) | 1,506 | (-41.3%) | 646 | (+5.4%) | 22 | (+57.1%) |
| 2020 | 5 | 1,738 | (-20.1%) | 1,273 | (-15.5%) | 457 | (-29.3%) | 8 | (-63.6%) |
| 2020 | 6 | 2,293 | (+31.9%) | 1,828 | (+43.6%) | 460 | (+0.7%) | 5 | (-37.5%) |
| 2020 | 7 | 2,242 | (-2.2%) | 1,637 | (-10.4%) | 592 | (+28.7%) | 13 | (+160.0%) |
| 2020 | 8 | 2,441 | (+8.9%) | 1,739 | (+6.2%) | 698 | (+17.9%) | 5 | (-61.5%) |
| 2020 | 9 | 2,315 | (-5.2%) | 1,706 | (-1.9%) | 589 | (-15.6%) | 19 | (+280.0%) |
| 2020 | 10 | 2,631 | (+13.7%) | 2,029 | (+18.9%) | 586 | (-0.5%) | 16 | (-15.8%) |
| 2020 | 11 | 2,233 | (-15.1%) | 1,669 | (-17.7%) | 561 | (-4.3%) | 4 | (-75.0%) |
| 2020 | 12 | 2,382 | (+6.7%) | 1,839 | (+10.2%) | 527 | (-6.1%) | 16 | (+300.0%) |
| 2021 | 1 | 2,509 | (+5.3%) | 1,896 | (+3.1%) | 601 | (+14.0%) | 12 | (-25.0%) |
| 2021 | 2 | 2,452 | (-2.3%) | 1,818 | (-4.1%) | 622 | (+3.5%) | 12 | (0.0%) |
| Monthly figures - number of permits for new residential buildings + evolution compared to the previous period | |||||||||
Long term evolution
Since 2007, the number of permits for the renovation of residential buildings was generally higher than the number of permits for the construction of new residential buildings. This changes briefly from the second quarter of 2018 onwards. From February 2019 onwards, the number of permits for the renovation of residential buildings is again higher than the number of permits for the construction of new residential buildings, but the difference remains small. In recent months, new buildings and renovations have been on the same level.
From 2003 onwards, more permits are issued for new apartments than for single family dwellings. During the years 2010-2011, both were at approximately the same level. Afterwards, the difference has been increasing again in favour of the apartments. In 2018, the difference is the greatest. In 2019 and 2020, the gap is narrowing, but in the last few months the difference between the number of new apartments and the number of new single family dwellings has been widening again.
New construction vs renovation Single family dwellings vs apartments
