Building permits: December 2023
Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, publishes today the figures on building permits until December 2023.
For the most recent month available, December 2023, building permits were issued for 1,985 residential buildings. Compared to November 2023, this is a decrease of 0.6%. In the Flemish Region, 2.3% more permits for new residential buildings were issued than in the previous month. The number of permits issued for new residential buildings has decreased by 8.7% in the Walloon Region. In the Brussels Capital Region, permits for 4 new residential buildings were issued in December 2023.
| Month | Belgium | Flemish Region | Walloon Region | Brussels-Capital Region | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1 | 2,498 | 1,919 | 554 | 25 | ||||
| 2022 | 2 | 2,452 | (-1.8%) | 1,862 | (-3.0%) | 575 | (+3.8%) | 15 | (-40.0%) |
| 2022 | 3 | 3,489 | (+42.3%) | 2,723 | (+46.2%) | 749 | (+30.3%) | 17 | (+13.3%) |
| 2022 | 4 | 2,241 | (-35.8%) | 1,593 | (-41.5%) | 639 | (-14.7%) | 9 | (-47.1%) |
| 2022 | 5 | 2,717 | (+21.2%) | 1,994 | (+25.2%) | 708 | (+10.8%) | 15 | (+66.7%) |
| 2022 | 6 | 2,391 | (-12.0%) | 1,832 | (-8.1%) | 552 | (-22.0%) | 7 | (-53.3%) |
| 2022 | 7 | 1,952 | (-18.4%) | 1,419 | (-22.5%) | 525 | (-4.9%) | 8 | (+14.3%) |
| 2022 | 8 | 2,459 | (+26.0%) | 1,788 | (+26.0%) | 666 | (+26.9%) | 5 | (-37.5%) |
| 2022 | 9 | 2,269 | (-7.7%) | 1,705 | (-4.6%) | 551 | (-17.3%) | 13 | (+160.0%) |
| 2022 | 10 | 2,247 | (-1.0%) | 1,674 | (-1.8%) | 570 | (+3.4%) | 3 | (-76.9%) |
| 2022 | 11 | 1,910 | (-15.0%) | 1,355 | (-19.1%) | 541 | (-5.1%) | 14 | (+366.7%) |
| 2022 | 12 | 2,024 | (+6.0%) | 1,538 | (+13.5%) | 473 | (-12.6%) | 13 | (-7.1%) |
| 2023 | 1 | 2,270 | (+12.2%) | 1,571 | (+2.1%) | 692 | (+46.3%) | 7 | (-46.2%) |
| 2023 | 2 | 2,108 | (-7.1%) | 1,652 | (+5.2%) | 450 | (-35.0%) | 6 | (-14.3%) |
| 2023 | 3 | 2,656 | (+26.0%) | 2,022 | (+22.4%) | 623 | (+38.4%) | 11 | (+83.3%) |
| 2023 | 4 | 2,012 | (-24.2%) | 1,531 | (-24.3%) | 463 | (-25.7%) | 18 | (+63.6%) |
| 2023 | 5 | 2,092 | (+4.0%) | 1,565 | (+2.2%) | 516 | (+11.4%) | 11 | (-38.9%) |
| 2023 | 6 | 2,160 | (+3.3%) | 1,609 | (+2.8%) | 529 | (+2.5%) | 22 | (+100.0%) |
| 2023 | 7 | 1,918 | (-11.2%) | 1,388 | (-13.7%) | 521 | (-1.5%) | 9 | (-59.1%) |
| 2023 | 8 | 1,703 | (-11.2%) | 1,168 | (-15.9%) | 528 | (+1.3%) | 7 | (-22.2%) |
| 2023 | 9 | 2,101 | (+23.4%) | 1,618 | (+38.5%) | 469 | (-11.2%) | 14 | (+100.0%) |
| 2023 | 10 | 2,476 | (+17.8%) | 1,886 | (+16.6%) | 576 | (+22.8%) | 14 | (0.0%) |
| 2023 | 11 | 1,996 | (-19.4%) | 1,495 | (-20.7%) | 494 | (-14.2%) | 6 | (-57.1%) |
| 2023 | 12 | 1,985 | (-0.6%) | 1,530 | (+2.3%) | 451 | (-8.7%) | 4 | (-33.3%) |
| 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.
The number of residential renovations reached a peak in late 2021/early 2022.
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. The difference is the greatest in 2018. From 2019 onwards, the gap narrows again. In recent months, the gap between the two series has been growing in favour of the number of new apartments.
Purpose and brief description
A building permit is an authorization to start with the execution of a construction project. The granting of the building permit is therefore the final stage of the approval procedure of the government before the start of construction. This statistic provides an overview of the number of buildings and the number of dwellings for which a building permit has been approved, for new construction, renovation and demolition works.
Population
Building permits issued in Belgium during the reference period of the results
Frequency
Monthly
Timing of publication
Results available 3 months after the reference period
Forms
- Declaration form (Model I): buildings intended exclusively or mainly for residential use
- Declaration form (Model II): buildings intended exclusively or mainly for other than residential use
- Declaration form (Model III): building where construction or conversion work has begun
- Declaration form (Model IV): Monthly submission document