According to the Orders of Engineers in Beirut and Tripoli, the total number of construction permits fell by a yearly 22.14% to reach 3,815 by April 2019. Accordingly, the Construction Area Authorized by Permits (CAP) also slipped by an annual 32.42% to $2.40M square meters (sqm), which may reflect investors preferring smaller construction areas for their projects.
In a regional breakdown, Mount Lebanon grasped the largest share of permits issued (35.47% of total), with 1,353 construction permits issued by April 2019, down by an annual 31.77%.
In South Lebanon (grasping 20.45% % of total), construction permits also shrunk 12.26% over the same period to settle at 780.
The North ranked 3rd in the total construction permits with a stake of 14.13% of the total, equivalent to 539 permits in the first 4 months of 2019, compared to 703 during the previous year.
Following the same trend, in Nabatiye and Bekaa (13.45% and 9.54% of total), the number of construction permits contracted by an annual 21.08% and 17.65% to reach 513 and 364 permits respectively.
However, in Beirut (constituting 6.97% of total issued permits), number of construction permits grew by a yearly 14.16% to reach 266 by April 2019.
Number of Construction Permits in April
Source: Orders of Engineers in Beirut & Tripoli