Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, publishes today the figures on building permits until April 2020. These relate mainly to permit applications from late 2019 and early 2020, when the Covid-19 crisis was not yet underway. However, a lower response rate was noted for the survey[1], which may lead to more unstable results due to non-response estimates. The figures below are therefore provisional and will be updated at a later date.
Annual evolution
The number of permits issued for new residential buildings in the first 4 months of 2020 has increased by 14.4 % to 10,325 buildings compared to the same period in 2019. The increase is the sharpest in the Flemish Region, where it amounted to 15.3 %. In the Walloon Region, the number of permits issued for new residential buildings was 12.1 % higher, and the Brussels-Capital Region registered a decrease of 12.2 %.
Table 1: Annual figures - number of new authorised residential buildings + evolution compared to the previous period
Belgium | Flemish Region | Walloon Region | Brussels-Capital Region | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005 | 10,252 | 7,210 | 2,881 | 161 | ||||
2010 | 10,427 | (+1.7%) | 7,504 | (+4.1%) | 2,841 | (-1.4%) | 82 | (-49.1%) |
2015 | 7,182 | (-31.1%) | 5,129 | (-31.6%) | 1,991 | (-29.9%) | 62 | (-24.4%) |
2016 | 10,201 | (+42.0%) | 8,060 | (+57.1%) | 2,057 | (+3.3%) | 84 | (+35.5%) |
2017 | 7,367 | (-27.8%) | 5,049 | (-37.4%) | 2,250 | (+9.4%) | 68 | (-19.0%) |
2018 | 11,329 | (+53.8%) | 9,038 | (+79.0%) | 2,226 | (-1.1%) | 65 | (-4.4%) |
2019 | 9,026 | (-20.3%) | 6,879 | (-23.9%) | 2,098 | (-5.8%) | 49 | (-24.6%) |
2020 | 10,325 | (+14.4%) | 7,930 | (+15.3%) | 2,351 | (+12.1%) | 43 | (-12.2%) |
Monthly evolution
For the most recent month available, April 2020, building permits were issued for 2,140 new residential buildings. Compared to March 2020, this is a decrease of one third. In the Flemish Region, the decrease was 41.3 %. The number of permits issued for new residential buildings has slightly increased by 0.8 % in the Walloon Region. In the Brussels-Capital Region, permits were issued for 4 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 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | 1 | 2,120 | 1,552 | 558 | 10 | ||||
2019 | 2 | 2,008 | (-5.3%) | 1,550 | (-0.1%) | 449 | (-19.5%) | 9 | (-10.0%) |
2019 | 3 | 2,484 | (+23.7%) | 1,903 | (+22.8%) | 566 | (+26.1%) | 15 | (+66.7%) |
2019 | 4 | 2,414 | (-2.8%) | 1,874 | (-1.5%) | 525 | (-7.2%) | 15 | 0% |
2019 | 5 | 2,089 | (-13.5%) | 1,535 | (-18.1%) | 549 | (+4.6%) | 5 | (-66.7%) |
2019 | 6 | 2,269 | (+8.6%) | 1,687 | (+9.9%) | 565 | (+2.9%) | 17 | (+240.0%) |
2019 | 7 | 2,548 | (+12.3%) | 1,874 | (+11.1%) | 664 | (+17.5%) | 10 | (-41.2%) |
2019 | 8 | 2,202 | (-13.6%) | 1,615 | (-13.8%) | 572 | (-13.9%) | 15 | (+50.0%) |
2019 | 9 | 2,469 | (+12.1%) | 1,861 | (+15.2%) | 603 | (+5.4%) | 5 | (-66.7%) |
2019 | 10 | 2,393 | (-3.1%) | 1,817 | (-2.4%) | 560 | (-7.1%) | 16 | (+220.0%) |
2019 | 11 | 2,164 | (-9.6%) | 1,576 | (-13.3%) | 573 | (+2.3%) | 15 | (-6.3%) |
2019 | 12 | 2,327 | (+7.5%) | 1,813 | (+15.0%) | 506 | (-11.7%) | 8 | (-46.7%) |
2020 | 1 | 2,551 | (+9.6%) | 1,920 | (+5.9%) | 623 | (+23.1%) | 8 | 0% |
2020 | 2 | 2,428 | (-4.8%) | 1,944 | (+1.3%) | 469 | (-24.7%) | 14 | (+75.0%) |
2020 | 3 | 3,206 | (+32.0%) | 2,562 | (+31.8%) | 627 | (+33.7%) | 17 | (+21.4%) |
2020 | 4 | 2,140 | (-33.3%) | 1,504 | (-41.3%) | 632 | (+0.8%) | 4 | (-76.5%) |
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.
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
[1] For Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region, the data are collected via a survey. For Flanders, an administrative database is used, which means that this problem does not arise.