Building permits: December 2020

Housing
Building permits: December 2020

Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, publishes today the figures on building permits until December 2020.

Annual evolution

The number of permits issued for new residential buildings in 2020 has increased by 4.4% to 28,646 buildings compared to 2019.  This increase can be observed in each of the 3 regions: it amounted to 4.8 % in the Flemish Region, to 2.8 % in the Walloon Region and to 8.6 % in the Brussels-Capital Region.

Annual figures - number of new authorised residential buildings + evolution compared to the previous period

  Belgium Flemish Region Walloon Region Brussels-Capital Region
2005 31,518   22,072   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%) 6,067 (-1.9%) 199 (-7.4%)
2017 22,764 (-0.9%) 15,964 (-4.4%) 6,591 (+8.6%) 209 (+5.0%)
2018 28,842 (+26.7%) 22,086 (+38.3%) 6,597 (+0.1%) 159 (-23.9%)
2019 27,451 (-4.8%) 20,657 (-6.5%) 6,655 (+0.9%) 140 (-11.9%)
2020 28,646 (+4.4%) 21,655 (+4.8%) 6,839 (+2.8%) 152 (+8.6%)
Figures first 12 months - number of new authorised residential buildings + evolution compared to the previous period

Monthly evolution

For the most recent month available, December 2020, building permits were issued for 2,383 residential buildings. Compared to November 2020, this is an increase of 6.9%.  The Flemish Region registered an increase of 10.2%.  The number of building permits issued for new buildings has decreased in the Walloon Region by 5 % and this figure rose to 15 buildings in the Brussels-Capital Region.                                                         

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 2,119   1,552   557 0.0% 10  
2019 2 2,007 (-5.3%) 1,550 (-0.1%) 448 (-19.6%) 9 (-10.0%)
2019 3 2,483 (+23.7%) 1,903 (+22.8%) 565 (+26.1%) 15 (+66.7%)
2019 4 2,413 (-2.8%) 1,874 (-1.5%) 524 (-7.3%) 15 0.0%
2019 5 2,086 (-13.6%) 1,535 (-18.1%) 546 (+4.2%) 5 (-66.7%)
2019 6 2,257 (+8.2%) 1,687 (+9.9%) 554 (+1.5%) 16 (+220.0%)
2019 7 2,540 (+12.5%) 1,874 (+11.1%) 655 (+18.2%) 11 (-31.3%)
2019 8 2,196 (-13.5%) 1,615 (-13.8%) 567 (-13.4%) 14 (+27.3%)
2019 9 2,470 (+12.5%) 1,861 (+15.2%) 604 (+6.5%) 5 (-64.3%)
2019 10 2,391 (-3.2%) 1,817 (-2.4%) 558 (-7.6%) 16 (+220.0%)
2019 11 2,162 (-9.6%) 1,576 (-13.3%) 572 (+2.5%) 14 (-12.5%)
2019 12 2,327 (+7.6%) 1,813 (+15.0%) 505 (-11.7%) 10 (-28.6%)
2020 1 2,565 (+10.2%) 1,921 (+6.0%) 630 (+24.8%) 14 (+40.0%)
2020 2 2,431 (-5.2%) 1,944 (+1.2%) 472 (-25.1%) 14 0.0%
2020 3 3,183 (+30.9%) 2,565 (+31.9%) 604 (+28.0%) 15 (+7.1%)
2020 4 2,174 (-31.7%) 1,506 (-41.3%) 646 (+7.0%) 22 (+46.7%)
2020 5 1,739 (-20.0%) 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 2,451 (+9.3%) 1,739 (+6.2%) 708 (+19.6%) 5 (-61.5%)
2020 9 2,314 (-5.6%) 1,706 (-1.9%) 588 (-16.9%) 19 (+280.0%)
2020 10 2,640 (+14.1%) 2,028 (+18.9%) 596 (+1.4%) 16 (-15.8%)
2020 11 2,230 (-15.5%) 1,669 (-17.7%) 557 (-6.5%) 4 (-75.0%)
2020 12 2,383 (+6.9%) 1,839 (+10.2%) 529 (-5.0%) 15 (+275.0%)
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 recent months, the difference has narrowed again.

 

New construction vs renovation                               Single family dwellings vs apartments  

bouwvergunningen_en202012_abouwvergunningen_en202012_b