Over 2,500 new homes approved by the Planning Authority between January and March 2023

Of the thirteen quarters since the beginning of 2020, only two saw the approval of more dwellings than the first quarter of 2023, with the Planning Authority issuing 496 building permits for a total of 2,540 new dwellings during the first three months of the year

When compared to the same quarter of the previous year, the number of building permits decreased by 18.6 per cent while the number of approved new dwellings decreased by 20.7 per cent.

However, the first quarter of 2022 was the most productive period over the last years, so it is no surprise that there were fewer permits approved between January and March of this year.

Looking at the number of permits and dwellings approved per quarter since the beginning of 2020 shows that only first quarters of 2020 and 2022 had more approvals

Apartments made up 71.6 per cent of the total number of approved new dwellings. Another 15.5 per cent were penthouses and 8.8 per cent were maisonettes. Only 2.9 per cent were terraced houses, with the remaining 1.2 per cent being other kinds of residential units like farmhouses and villas.

The highest number of approved new dwellings (178) was registered in San Pawl Il-Baħar, while the only area to register an increase in permits over the first three months of 2022 was the Western region

Of note is that the average number of dwellings approved per permit has increased over this period, from 4.1 in 2020 to 5.2 in 2022, possibly an indication of increased prevalence of apartment blocks over single-family housing, or of the increasing size of the average apartment complex.