According to the Orders of Engineers in Beirut and Tripoli, the total number of construction permits fell by a yearly 27.44% to reach 841 in the first month of 2019. Accordingly, the Construction Area Authorized by Permits (CAP) also slipped by an annual 38.33% to 501,955 square meters (sqm), which may reflect investors preferring smaller construction areas for their projects.
The regional breakdown reveals a slowdown in the construction activity in all governorates. In details, Mount Lebanon grasped the biggest portion of allocated permits amounting to 314 construction permits in the first month of 2019; despite dropping from 408 in Jan 2018. The South of Lebanon acquired the second highest number of permits which totaled 164 permits in January 2019 compared to 257 in the same period of 2018.
In Nabatieh, 109 permits were granted in Jan. 2019, down from 160 in the same period last year. In the Bekaa and Beirut, 70 and 54 construction permits were issued in Jan. 2019, respectively, down from 108 and 59 permits in the same period last year.
However, in the North, the number of permits fell from 167 in Jan. 2018 to 130 in the same period of 2019, with the CAP also declining from 172,146 sqm in Jan. 2018 to 124,393 in Jan. 2019.
However, the central bank’s decision to reactivate the program of subsidized housing loans last month is expected to affect positively the construction sector in the upcoming period.
Number of Construction Permits in January
Source: Orders of Engineers in Beirut & Tripoli