New construction permits in the first five months of this year amounted to 41,934, up 20.4% from 34,824 in the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (Mitma).
10,639 permits (37.8% more than before May 2020) were issued for single-family housing and 31,278 (+ 15.5%) for apartment buildings out of the total number.
In addition, 17 new building permits were issued for other types of buildings, which are neither single-family houses nor multi-apartment buildings. This figure is 42% higher than in the first five months of 2020.
In May, 8,976 new building permits were registered, what is 36.2% higher compared to the same month a year earlier, when 6,591 permits were registered. 2,428 of them were single-family houses (+ 75.2%) and 6,547 were block buildings (+ 25.8%).
Statistics also show that the average area of one residential building was 194.1 sq. m. for single-family houses and 110.6 sq.m. for apartment buildings. In other buildings, the average floor space was 145 square meters.
In 2020, for the first time since 2014, more housing was built in Spain than it was commissioned. According to Mitma data compiled by the Spanish Mortgage Association (AHE), complete housing construction reached its peak as in 2012, while started construction has returned to 2017 levels.
According to experts interviewed by Idealista / news, such a different scenario is explained by the influence of the pandemic, which slowed down the launch of projects, although work continued.
In this regard, Daniel Cuervo, CEO of Madrid's Association of Real Estate Developers (ASPRIMA), recalls that “uncertainty caused by the coronavirus last year reduced the volume of housing commissioning by almost 20%, bringing it to a level not seen in the last three years. Work-in-progress, on the other hand, was progressing normally (with the exception of a shutdown caused by heavy restrictions) and the houses were completed and delivered on time.”