Building permits: December 2018

Housing
Building permits: December 2018

Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, publishes today the figures on building permits until December 2018. The figures for the Walloon Region and Brussels have been updated compared to those published on 29 March

Annual evolution

The number of permits issued for new residential buildings in 2018 has increased by 25.8% to 28,649 buildings compared to 2017. This increase fully originates in the Flemish Region, where it amounted to 37.8%. In the Walloon Region, the number of permits issued for new residential buildings was 1.5% lower, and the Brussels-Capital Region registered a decrease of 23.4%.

Table 1: Annual evolution - number of building permits for new residential buildings + evolution compared to the previous period

  Belgium Flemish Region Walloon Region Brussels-Capital Region
2005 31,518   22,72   9,107   339  
2010 27,292 (-13,4%) 18,888 (-14,4%) 8,148 (-10,5%) 256 (-24,5%)
2015 21,916 (-19,7%) 15,514 (-17,9%) 6,187 (-24,1%) 215 (-16,0%)
2016 22,962 (+4,8%) 16,696 (+7,6%) 6,67 (-1,9%) 199 (-7,4%)
2017 22,767 (-0,8%) 15,964 (-4,4%) 6,594 (+8,7%) 209 (+5,0%)
2018 28,649 (+25,8%) 21,993 (+37,8%) 6,496 (-1,5%) 160 (-23,4%)
(Annual figures - number of permits for new residential buildings + evolution compared to the previous period)

Monthly evolution

For the most recent month available, December 2018, building permits were issued for 2,120 residential buildings. Compared to November 2018, this is a decrease of 0.2%. The Flemish Region registered an increase of 12.4 %. The number of building permits issued for new buildings has decreased in the Walloon Region by 30.3% and in the Brussels-Capital Region by 7.1% compared to the previous month.

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

  Month Belgium Flemish Region Walloon Region Brussels-Capital Region
2018 1 2381,0   1714,0   650   17  
2018 2 2482,0 (+4,2%) 2028,0 (+18,3%) 434 (-33,2%) 20 (+17,6%)
2018 3 3236,0 (+30,4%) 2635,0 (+29,9%) 585 (+34,8%) 16 (-20,0%)
2018 4 3187,0 (-1,5%) 2632,0 (-0,1%) 543 (-7,2%) 12 (-25,0%)
2018 5 2822,0 (-11,5%) 2238,0 (-15,0%) 574 (+5,7%) 10 (-16,7%)
2018 6 2186,0 (-22,5%) 1546,0 (-30,9%) 630 (+9,8%) 10 (0,0%)
2018 7 1978,0 (-9,5%) 1425,0 (-7,8%) 539 (-14,4%) 14 (+40,0%)
2018 8 1939,0 (-2,0%) 1344,0 (-5,7%) 587 (+8,9%) 8 (-42,9%)
2018 9 2046,0 (+5,5%) 1621,0 (+20,6%) 412 (-29,8%) 13 (+62,5%)
2018 10 2147,0 (+4,9%) 1651,0 (+1,9%) 484 (+17,5%) 12 (-7,7%)
2018 11 2124,0 (-1,1%) 1487,0 (-9,9%) 624 (+28,9%) 14 (+16,7%)
2018 12 2120,0 (-0,2%) 1672,0 (+12,4%) 435 (-30,3%) 13 (-7,1%)
(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 from the second quarter of 2018 onwards. From 2003 onwards, more permits are issued for new apartments than for singe 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

bouwvergunningen_en122018a.pngbouwvergunningen_en122018b.png