Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, publishes today the figures on building permits until November 2024.
For the most recent month available, November 2024, building permits were issued for 1,813 new residential buildings. Compared to October 2024, this is an increase of 3.5%. In the Flemish Region, the increase was 5.8%, which means that permits were issued for 1,341 buildings. The number of permits issued for new residential buildings has decreased by 3.1% to 469 in the Walloon Region. In the Brussels-Capital Region, permits were issued in November for the construction of 3 new residential buildings, compared to 28 buildings in the previous month.
| Month | Belgium | Flemish Region | Walloon Region | Brussels-Capital Region | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1 | 2,275 | 1,571 | 689 | ) | 15 | |||
| 2023 | 2 | 2,115 | (-7.0%) | 1,652 | (+5.2%) | 448 | (-35.0%) | 15 | (0.0%) |
| 2023 | 3 | 2,671 | (+26.3%) | 2,022 | (+22.4%) | 621 | (+38.6%) | 28 | (+86.7%) |
| 2023 | 4 | 2,020 | (-24.4%) | 1,531 | (-24.3%) | 460 | (-25.9%) | 29 | (+3.6%) |
| 2023 | 5 | 2,089 | (+3.4%) | 1,565 | (+2.2%) | 510 | (+10.9%) | 14 | (-51.7%) |
| 2023 | 6 | 2,160 | (+3.4%) | 1,609 | (+2.8%) | 522 | (+2.4%) | 29 | (+107.1%) |
| 2023 | 7 | 1,925 | (-10.9%) | 1,389 | (-13.7%) | 512 | (-1.9%) | 24 | (-17.2%) |
| 2023 | 8 | 1,699 | (-11.7%) | 1,168 | (-15.9%) | 524 | (+2.3%) | 7 | (-70.8%) |
| 2023 | 9 | 2,101 | (+23.7%) | 1,618 | (+38.5%) | 463 | (-11.6%) | 20 | (+185.7%) |
| 2023 | 10 | 2,453 | (+16.8%) | 1,886 | (+16.6%) | 542 | (+17.1%) | 25 | (+25.0%) |
| 2023 | 11 | 2,005 | (-18.3%) | 1,495 | (-20.7%) | 505 | (-6.8%) | 5 | (-80.0%) |
| 2023 | 12 | 1,985 | (-1.0%) | 1,530 | (+2.3%) | 439 | (-13.1%) | 16 | (+220.0%) |
| 2024 | 1 | 1,764 | (-11.1%) | 1,238 | (-19.1%) | 517 | (+17.8%) | 9 | (-43.8%) |
| 2024 | 2 | 1,738 | (-1.5%) | 1,268 | (+2.4%) | 438 | (-15.3%) | 32 | (+255.6%) |
| 2024 | 3 | 2,074 | (+19.3%) | 1,621 | (+27.8%) | 432 | (-1.4%) | 20 | (-37.5%) |
| 2024 | 4 | 1,897 | (-8.5%) | 1,456 | (-10.2%) | 431 | (-0.2%) | 10 | (-50.0%) |
| 2024 | 5 | 1,715 | (-9.6%) | 1,243 | (-14.6%) | 467 | (+8.4%) | 5 | (-50.0%) |
| 2024 | 6 | 1,907 | (+11.2%) | 1,435 | (+15.4%) | 456 | (-2.4%) | 16 | (+220.0%) |
| 2024 | 7 | 1,776 | (-6.9%) | 1,267 | (-11.7%) | 504 | (+10.5%) | 5 | (-68.8%) |
| 2024 | 8 | 1,640 | (-7.7%) | 1,107 | (-12.6%) | 521 | (+3.4%) | 13 | (+160.0%) |
| 2024 | 9 | 1,890 | (+15.2%) | 1,416 | (+27.9%) | 463 | (-11.1%) | 11 | (-15.4%) |
| 2024 | 10 | 1,751 | (-7.4%) | 1,268 | (-10.5%) | 455 | (-1.7%) | 28 | (+154.5%) |
| 2024 | 11 | 1,813 | (+3.5%) | 1,341 | (+5.8%) | 469 | (+3.1%) | 3 | (-89.3%) |
| 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. There is 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 until mid-2022, before slowly widening again.