Over 7,000 building licences issued in May
Construction in Spain continued its resurgence in May with 7,085 new building licences issued, the highest monthly figure so far this year. In April there were only 4,795 licences issued.
May’s figure was 79.5% more than in the same month last year, and showed a significant jump from the previous month which recorded this year’s lowest figure so far, according to a report by property portal idealista.
According to the Ministry of Development, during the first five months of the year there have been 28,662 successful applications for a building licence, the highest figure recorded in the same five-month period since 2011, and 49.8% higher than in the 2015.
Despite these encouraging figures, we must not forget that the number of licences issued for new construction are still far below the numbers seen before the economic crisis that levelled the construction industry in Spain, as well as in many other countries. The peak figure came in September 2006 during which time there were 126,753 licences granted.
For all construction (new build, renovations and additions) in the first five months of this year there have been 30,236 licences granted, representing an increase of 32.6% over the same period in 2015.
By type of property, licences for housing blocks increased by 58% with 21,497 licences granted, while for single-family homes there were 7,160 successful applications, an increase of 29%.
