Building permits: March 2020
Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, publishes today the figures on building permits until March 2020.
Annual evolution
The number of permits issued for new residential buildings in the first 3 months of 2020 has increased by 24.6 % to 8,238 buildings compared to the same period in 2019. The increase is the sharpest in the Flemish Region, where it amounted to 28.3 %. In the Walloon Region, the number of permits issued for new residential buildings was 13.5 % higher, and the Brussels-Capital Region registered a decrease of 11.8 %.
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 | 7,453 | 5,323 | 1,995 | 135 | ||||
| 2010 | 7,154 | (-4.0%) | 5,077 | (-4.6%) | 2,015 | (+1.0%) | 62 | (-54.1%) |
| 2015 | 5,497 | (-23.2%) | 4,007 | (-21.1%) | 1,446 | (-28.2%) | 44 | (-29.0%) |
| 2016 | 7,680 | (+39.7%) | 6,113 | (+52.6%) | 1,497 | (+3.5%) | 70 | (+59.1%) |
| 2017 | 5,763 | (-25.0%) | 4,008 | (-34.4%) | 1,694 | (+13.2%) | 61 | (-12.9%) |
| 2018 | 8,129 | (+41.1%) | 6,392 | (+59.5%) | 1,684 | (-0.6%) | 53 | (-13.1%) |
| 2019 | 6,612 | (-18.7%) | 5,005 | (-21.7%) | 1,573 | (-6.6%) | 34 | (-35.8%) |
| 2020 | 8,238 | (+24.6%) | 6,423 | (+28.3%) | 1,786 | (+13.5%) | 30 | (-11.8%) |
| Table 1: Figures for the first 3 months - number of building permits for new residential buildings + evolution compared to the previous period | ||||||||
Monthly evolution
For the most recent month available, March 2020, building permits were issued for 3,263 new residential buildings. Compared to February 2020, this is an increase of 34.1 %. In the Flemish Region, the increase was 32 %. The number of permits issued for new buildings has increased by 41.2 % in the Walloon Region. In the Brussels-Capital Region, the number of permits issued for new buildings increased to 16 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 | België | Vlaams Gewest | Waals Gewest | 10 | ||||
| 2019 | 2 | 2,120 | 0.0% | 1,552 | 0.0% | 558 | 0.0% | 9 | 0.0% |
| 2019 | 3 | 2,008 | (-5.3%) | 1,550 | (-0.1%) | 449 | (-19.5%) | 15 | (-10.0%) |
| 2019 | 4 | 2,484 | (+23.7%) | 1,903 | (+22.8%) | 566 | (+26.1%) | 15 | (+66.7%) |
| 2019 | 5 | 2,414 | (-2.8%) | 1,874 | (-1.5%) | 525 | (-7.2%) | 5 | 0.0% |
| 2019 | 6 | 2,089 | (-13.5%) | 1,535 | (-18.1%) | 549 | (+4.6%) | 17 | (-66.7%) |
| 2019 | 7 | 2,269 | (+8.6%) | 1,687 | (+9.9%) | 566 | (+3.1%) | 10 | (+240.0%) |
| 2019 | 8 | 2,549 | (+12.3%) | 1,874 | (+11.1%) | 664 | (+17.3%) | 15 | (-41.2%) |
| 2019 | 9 | 2,202 | (-13.6%) | 1,615 | (-13.8%) | 573 | (-13.7%) | 5 | (+50.0%) |
| 2019 | 10 | 2,469 | (+12.1%) | 1,861 | (+15.2%) | 603 | (+5.2%) | 16 | (-66.7%) |
| 2019 | 11 | 2,394 | (-3.0%) | 1,817 | (-2.4%) | 561 | (-7.0%) | 15 | (+220.0%) |
| 2019 | 12 | 2,165 | (-9.6%) | 1,576 | (-13.3%) | 574 | (+2.3%) | 8 | (-6.3%) |
| 2020 | 1 | 2,329 | (+7.6%) | 1,813 | (+15.0%) | 508 | (-11.5%) | 8 | (-46.7%) |
| 2020 | 2 | 2,542 | (+9.1%) | 1,920 | (+5.9%) | 614 | (+20.9%) | 6 | 0.0% |
| 2020 | 3 | 2,433 | (-4.3%) | 1,941 | (+1.1%) | 486 | (-20.8%) | 16 | (-25.0%) |
| Table 2: 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 January 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
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