All permits in Brussels are available on the OpenPermits platform. We analyzed these permits in order to extract interesting statistics about permits applied for and granted in Brussels.
Urban planning permits
The urban planning permit is mandatory for a series of construction or transformation acts. These acts subject to a permit are specified in the CoBAT, the legal basis for Urban Planning and Spatial Planning in Brussels.
A rising number of applications
As we can see in the chart below, the number of permits applied for has been steadily increasing for more than 20 years. Each year, an average of 173 more permits are recorded than the previous year. In 2022, for example, 7,784 permits were applied for in the Brussels-Capital Region.
Major disparities between municipalities
As shown by the illustration below, some municipalities are much more active in terms of the number of permits applied for. Brussels (the city) leads with 15% of applications, while Saint-Josse-ten-Noode accounts for only 1% of the total volume of permits.
Of course, not all permit applications are granted, and there are significant differences in the permit approval rate depending on the municipality.
89% of permits granted
The municipalities in the south-east of Brussels (Woluwé, Uccle, Auderghem, Etterbeek, Watermael) grant a higher percentage of permits than the northern municipalities (Schaerbeek, Evere, Anderlecht, Molenbeek). This rate varies between 75% (Molenbeek) and 95% (Woluwe-Saint-Pierre) with an average of 89%. It is important to note that urban planning permits include applications for acts that are not construction (example: insulating a gable wall, regularizing a dwelling, felling a tree, etc.).
Housing development projects
The construction of a residential building is subject to an urban planning permit. These projects can be identified, via the permit application, by an increase in the area allocated to housing as well as keywords such as “construction”, “renovation”, “apartment building”, etc. We therefore identified 630 projects matching these criteria.
Here are a few examples that fall within this definition:
- Demolition of an auto garage and reconstruction of an apartment building
- Extension of a building to create 4 new dwellings
- Conversion of an office building into housing
What characteristics?
Development projects vary greatly in scale. We selected only projects for which at least 300 m² of housing was created. The majority of housing development permits plan to create less than 850 m² of housing. The 10% most ambitious projects aim to create 5,000 m² and more.
The largest upcoming projects
Based on the established criteria, we isolated the permits with the most m² authorized over the past three years. These are therefore the upcoming projects.
| Reference | Address | Approved housing area [m2] |
|---|---|---|
| 18/PFD/1791015 | Rue Neerveld 105-107, 1200 Woluwe-Saint-Lambert | 15375.0 |
| 12/PFD/1767823 | Quai des Charbonnages 88-90, 1080 Molenbeek-Saint-Jean | 12183.43 |
| 06/PFD/1772514 | Rue Colonel Bourg 120, 1140 Evere | 11843.5 |
| 16/PFD/1760152 | Homborch 71a-71e, 1180 Uccle | 9500.1 |
| 09/PFD/1839512 | Avenue de la Couronne 486-498, 1050 Ixelles | 8264.5 |
| 18/PFD/1825155 | Rue d’Attique , 1200 Woluwe-Saint-Lambert | 7592.41 |
| 15/PU/1779437 | Rue des Coteaux 221-223, 1030 Schaerbeek | 7574.4 |
| 01/PFD/1784916 | Rue de la Filature , 1070 Anderlecht | 7125.0 |
| 18/PFD/1799263 | Boulevard de la Woluwe 102, 1200 Woluwe-Saint-Lambert | 6748.0 |
| 02/PFD/1864255 | Boulevard du Souverain 360, 1160 Auderghem | 6005.0 |