Building permits: September 2019

Housing
Building permits: September 2019

Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, publishes today the figures on building permits until September 2019.

Annual evolution

The number of permits issued for new residential buildings in the first 9 months of 2019 has decreased by 7.6 % to 20,661 buildings compared to the same period in 2018. The decrease in the Flemish Region amounted to 10.4 %. In the Walloon Region, the number of permits issued for new residential buildings was 2.5 % higher, and the Brussels-Capital Region registered a decrease of 15.8 %.

Table 1: Figures for the first 9 months - number of building permits for new residential buildings + evolution compared to the previous period

  Belgium Flemish Region Walloon Region Brussels-Capital Region
2005 23,557   16,340   6,934   283  
2010 22,665 (-3.8%) 15,755 (-3.6%) 6,722 (-3.1%) 188 (-33.6%)
2015 16,786 (-25.9%) 11,840 (-24.8%) 4,774 (-29.0%) 172 (-8.5%)
2016 18,388 (+9.5%) 13,602 (+14.9%) 4,635 (-2.9%) 151 (-12.2%)
2017 16,169 (-12.1%) 10,921 (-19.7%) 5,110 (+10.2%) 138 (-8.6%)
2018 22,358 (+38.3%) 17,248 (+57.9%) 4,990 (-2.3%) 120 (-13.0%)
2019 20,661 (-7.6%) 15,449 (-10.4%) 5,113 (+2.5%) 101 (-15.8%)
Table 1: Figures for the first 9 months - number of building permits for new residential buildings + evolution compared to the previous period

Monthly evolution

For the most recent month available, September 2019, building permits were issued for 2,487 new residential buildings. Compared to August 2019, this is an increase of 13.2 %. In the Flemish Region, the increase was 15.1 %, which means that permits were issued for 1,859 buildings. The number of permits issued for new buildings has increased by 8.2 % to 619 in the Walloon Region. In the municipality Tubize in Wallonia, an exceptionally high number of permits were issued for new residential buildings. This is due to the reconversion of the site “Forges de Clabecq”. A decrease of 18.2 % was registered in the Brussels-Capital Region, which resulted in 9 permits issued for new residential buildings.

Table 2: Monthly figures - number of permits for new residential buildings + evolution compared to the previous period

  Month Belgium Flemish Region Walloon Region Brussels-Capital Region
2018 1 2,403   1,714   672   17  
2018 2 2,478 (+3.1%) 2,028 (+18.3%) 430 (-36.0%) 20 (+17.6%)
2018 3 3,230 (+30.3%) 2,635 (+29.9%) 579 (+34.7%) 16 (-20.0%)
2018 4 3,186 (-1.4%) 2,632 (-0.1%) 542 (-6.4%) 12 (-25.0%)
2018 5 2,830 (-11.2%) 2,238 (-15.0%) 582 (+7.4%) 10 (-16.7%)
2018 6 2,174 (-23.2%) 1,546 (-30.9%) 618 (+6.2%) 10 0
2018 7 1,999 (-8.0%) 1,425 (-7.8%) 560 (-9.4%) 14 (+40.0%)
2018 8 1,937 (-3.1%) 1,344 (-5.7%) 585 (+4.5%) 8 (-42.9%)
2018 9 2,055 (+6.1%) 1,621 (+20.6%) 421 (-28.0%) 13 (+62.5%)
2018 10 2,181 (+6.1%) 1,651 (+1.9%) 518 (+23.0%) 12 (-7.7%)
2018 11 2,118 (-2.9%) 1,487 (-9.9%) 618 (+19.3%) 13 (+8.3%)
2018 12 2,118 0 1,676 (+12.7%) 430 (-30.4%) 12 (-7.7%)
2019 1 2,122 0 1,552 0 560 0 10 0
2019 2 2,012 (-5.2%) 1,550 (-0.1%) 453 (-19.1%) 9 (-10.0%)
2019 3 2,485 (+23.5%) 1,903 (+22.8%) 567 (+25.2%) 15 (+66.7%)
2019 4 2,417 (-2.7%) 1,874 (-1.5%) 529 (-6.7%) 14 (-6.7%)
2019 5 2,092 (-13.4%) 1,535 (-18.1%) 552 (+4.3%) 5 (-64.3%)
2019 6 2,284 (+9.2%) 1,687 (+9.9%) 580 (+5.1%) 17 (+240.0%)
2019 7 2,565 (+12.3%) 1,874 (+11.1%) 681 (+17.4%) 11 (-35.3%)
2019 8 2,197 (-14.3%) 1,615 (-13.8%) 572 (-16.0%) 11 0
2019 9 2,487 (+13.2%) 1,859 (+15.1%) 619 (+8.2%) 9 (-18.2%)
Table 2: 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 January 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. 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, but in recent years the difference has been increasing in favour of the apartments.

   New construction vs renovation                                      Single family dwellings vs apartments

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