Building permits: June 2021
Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, publishes today the figures on building permits until June 2021.
Annual evolution
The number of permits issued for new residential buildings in the first 6 months of 2021 has increased by 16.1% to 16,715 buildings compared to the same period in 2020. The increase in the Flemish Region amounted to 12.9%. The number of permits issued for new residential buildings was 26.5% higher in the Walloon Region, and 37.8% higher in the Brussels-Capital Region.
| Belgium | Flemish Region | Walloon Region | Brussels-Capital Region | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 16,129 | 11,317 | 4,610 | 202 | ||||
| 2010 | 17,369 | (+7.7%) | 12,565 | (+11.0%) | 4,681 | (+1.5%) | 123 | (-39.1%) |
| 2015 | 10,947 | (-37.0%) | 7,697 | (-38.7%) | 3,145 | (-32.8%) | 105 | (-14.6%) |
| 2016 | 13,659 | (+24.8%) | 10,406 | (+35.2%) | 3,140 | (-0.2%) | 113 | (+7.6%) |
| 2017 | 10,658 | (-22.0%) | 7,035 | (-32.4%) | 3,526 | (+12.3%) | 97 | (-14.2%) |
| 2018 | 16,341 | (+53.3%) | 12,831 | (+82.4%) | 3,425 | (-2.9%) | 85 | (-12.4%) |
| 2019 | 13,371 | (-18.2%) | 10,106 | (-21.2%) | 3,195 | (-6.7%) | 70 | (-17.6%) |
| 2020 | 14,394 | (+7.7%) | 11,037 | (+9.2%) | 3,281 | (+2.7%) | 74 | (+5.7%) |
| 2021 | 16,715 | (+16.1%) | 12,462 | (+12.9%) | 4,152 | (+26.5%) | 102 | (+37.8%) |
| (Figures for the first 6 months - number of building permits for new residential buildings + evolution compared to the previous period) | ||||||||
Monthly evolution
For the most recent month available, June 2021, building permits were issued for 2,923 new residential buildings. Compared to May 2021, this is an increase of 12.1%. In the Flemish Region, the increase was 12.8%, which means that permits were issued for 2,205 buildings. The number of permits issued for new buildings has increased by 8.1% to 693 in the Walloon Region. In the Brussels-Capital Region, the number of permits issued for new residential buildings has increased from 13 to 25.
| Month | Belgium | Flemish Region | Walloon Region | Brussels-Capital Region | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 1 | 2,568 | 1,921 | 635 | 0.0% | 12 | |||
| 2020 | 2 | 2,432 | (-5.3%) | 1,944 | (+1.2%) | 475 | (-25.2%) | 13 | (+8.3%) |
| 2020 | 3 | 3,190 | (+31.2%) | 2,565 | (+31.9%) | 610 | (+28.4%) | 14 | (+7.7%) |
| 2020 | 4 | 2,172 | (-31.9%) | 1,506 | (-41.3%) | 643 | (+5.4%) | 22 | (+57.1%) |
| 2020 | 5 | 1,738 | (-20.0%) | 1,273 | (-15.5%) | 457 | (-28.9%) | 8 | (-63.6%) |
| 2020 | 6 | 2,294 | (+32.0%) | 1,828 | (+43.6%) | 461 | (+0.9%) | 5 | (-37.5%) |
| 2020 | 7 | 2,240 | (-2.4%) | 1,637 | (-10.4%) | 590 | (+28.0%) | 13 | (+160.0%) |
| 2020 | 8 | 2,450 | (+9.4%) | 1,739 | (+6.2%) | 707 | (+19.8%) | 5 | (-61.5%) |
| 2020 | 9 | 2,312 | (-5.6%) | 1,706 | (-1.9%) | 587 | (-17.0%) | 19 | (+280.0%) |
| 2020 | 10 | 2,625 | (+13.5%) | 2,029 | (+18.9%) | 581 | (-1.0%) | 16 | (-15.8%) |
| 2020 | 11 | 2,236 | (-14.8%) | 1,669 | (-17.7%) | 564 | (-2.9%) | 4 | (-75.0%) |
| 2020 | 12 | 2,385 | (+6.7%) | 1,839 | (+10.2%) | 530 | (-6.0%) | 16 | (+300.0%) |
| 2021 | 1 | 2,527 | (+6.0%) | 1,896 | (+3.1%) | 617 | (+16.4%) | 14 | (-12.5%) |
| 2021 | 2 | 2,424 | (-4.1%) | 1,822 | (-3.9%) | 589 | (-4.5%) | 13 | (-7.1%) |
| 2021 | 3 | 3,556 | (+46.7%) | 2,648 | (+45.3%) | 880 | (+49.4%) | 28 | (+115.4%) |
| 2021 | 4 | 2,677 | (-24.7%) | 1,937 | (-26.9%) | 732 | (-16.8%) | 9 | (-67.9%) |
| 2021 | 5 | 2,608 | (-2.6%) | 1,954 | (+0.9%) | 641 | (-12.4%) | 13 | (+44.4%) |
| 2021 | 6 | 2,923 | (+12.1%) | 2,205 | (+12.8%) | 693 | (+8.1%) | 25 | (+92.3%) |
| 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, but the difference remains small. In recent months, new buildings and renovations have been on about 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. The difference is the greatest in 2018. From 2019 onwards, the gap narrows again.
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
Formen
- Formulaire de déclaration (Modèle I) : bâtiments destinés exclusivement ou principalement à l’habitation
- Formulaire de déclaration (Modèle II) : bâtiments destinés exclusivement ou principalement à un autre usage que l’habitation
- Formulaire de déclaration (Modèle III) : bâtiment dont les travaux de construction ou de transformation ont commencé
- Formulaire de déclaration (modèle IV) : Bordereau d’envoi mensuel