The number of buildings licensed in the third quarter of 2022 fell by 7.7% in the third quarter compared to the same period last year – after having already fallen by 6.6% in the previous three months –, with 5,700 permits registered during these summer months according to a report by ECO.

Of the total number of licensed buildings in Portugal in this period, 76.7% were for new construction, with 81% of these being for family housing. The data were released by INE, which adds that cases of demolition (312 buildings) corresponded to 5.4% of the total.

The Autonomous Region of Madeira was the only region to show a positive year-on-year change in the total number of licensed buildings (+7.9%). In all the other regions of the country, there were negative year-on-year changes, particularly in the Alentejo with -30.5%.

In percentage terms, the decrease in the number of licensed buildings in the third quarter was greater in rehabilitation works, which decreased by 12.6%, than in cases corresponding to new constructions (-5.8%). Already in a comparison with what had happened between April and June of this year, licensing in new constructions decreased by 7.8% and rehabilitation works decreased by 12.1% in the following three months.

Analysing, in particular, the case of new constructions for family housing, the drop in the period under analysis was 4.7%, for a total of 6.9 thousand licensed dwellings. The only positive year-on-year variations in this indicator were registered in the Algarve – driven by the municipalities of Loulé, Silves, and São Brás de Alportel – and in Madeira (+58.6% and +2.5%, respectively).On the other hand, the most significant decreases occurred in the Azores (-26%; -40 dwellings) and in Área Metropolitana de Lisboa (-17.6%; -265 dwellings).


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