Approved residential building permits and dwellings
Building permits are authorisations to initiate new building projects. The objective of these statistics is to indicate the future development of construction activity in terms of the number of approved new dwellings.
During the last quarter of 2023, 321 building permits were approved, for a total of 1,292 new dwellings throughout the year (Chart 1). When compared to the corresponding quarter of 2022, the number of building permits decreased by 10.1 per cent while the number of approved new dwellings decreased by 37.4 per cent. The average number of approved new dwellings per building permit stood at 4.0 (Chart 1).
Map 1. Number of approved new dwellings, by locality (LAU 2): Q4/2023
Note: Għajnsielem and Comino are classified as one locality. However, no building permits were approved in Comino.
Chart 1. Building permits and approved new dwellings by period
Approved new dwellings by type
The majority of new dwellings approved during the last quarter of 2023 were apartments (859), followed by penthouses (216), maisonettes (125), terraced houses (76) and other residential units1 (16) (Table 1). Apartments accounted for 66.5 per cent of the total number of approved new dwellings (Chart 2).
1 “Other” dwellings type includes bungalows, farmhouses and villas.
Chart 2. Distribution of approved new dwellings by type
Approved new dwellings by district
When compared to the corresponding quarter of 2022, the number of new dwellings approved in Malta decreased by 34.1 per cent while those in Gozo and Comino decreased by 51.0 per cent. The highest number of approved new dwellings was registered in the Northern Harbour district (466) while the lowest number was recorded in the Southern Harbour district (101) (Table 2).
Approved new dwellings by locality2
The highest number of approved new dwellings were issued in San Ġwann (73). This was followed by San Pawl Il-Baħar (66), Il-Ħamrun (64), In-Nadur (59) and Iż-Żurrieq (59) (Chart 3).
2 Only the top 35 localities are shown in Chart 3. The full list of approved new dwellings by locality may be viewed in the corresponding table.
Note: Totals may not add up due to rounding.
Chart 3. Approved new dwellings by locality
Methodological Notes
- During the last quarter of 2023, 321 building permits for a total of 1,292 new dwellings were approved.
- When compared to the same quarter in 2022, the number of approved new dwellings decreased by 37.4 per cent.
- Apartments made up 66.5 per cent of the total number of approved new dwellings.
- The highest number of approved new dwellings (73) was registered in San Ġwann.
