Building Permits Granted

Commentary

Between the beginning of January and the end of February 2007 the planning and building control authorities granted a total of 16 571*) building permits on the territory of the Czech Republic, which is 342 permits up on the corresponding period of 2006.
There were 9 461 building permits granted for buildings in total (i.e. + 954 year-on-year) of which residential buildings accounted for 6 554 permits (+ 1 112) and non-residential buildings for 2 907 ( 158).
The number of building permits granted for constructions for environmental protections was 2 901 which translates into a decrease of 562.
The number of building permits granted for other constructions amounted to 4 209, which is by 50 less than in the corresponding period of 2006.

Of the total 16 571 building permits, 8 845 was granted for new construction (53.4 %) and 7 726 for renewals and enhancements (46.6 %).

Territorially, rather high investment activities are expected in the Středočeský Region (18.5 %), Jihomoravský Region (13.5 %) and the capital city of Prague (9.2 %), which is in contrast to the lowest construction activities expected in the Karlovarský Region (2.9 %), the Liberecký Region (3.6 %) and Pardubický Region (3.8 %).

There were 6 554 building permits granted for residential buildings: 2 540 of them for new construction (38.8 %) and 4 014 for renewals and enhancements (61.2 %). Most of them were granted in the Středočeský Region (18.0 %), the Jihomoravský Region (14.0 %) and the Moravskoslezský Region (9.1 %). 1 036 building permits issued on the territory of the capital city of Prague make up 15.8 %, of which 2.5 % account for new construction.

The buildings, which were given a go-ahead for the start of construction from January till February 2007, are supposed to provide 8 999 dwellings throughout the Czech Republic. New construction should provide 4 595 dwellings (51.1 %; 4 538 and 57 dwellings in residential and non-residential buildings, respectively). Renewals and enhancements resulting in dwellings should be provide 961 dwellings (10.7 %; 745 in residential buildings and 216 in non-residential buildings). Total 5 556 new dwellings. The other renewals and enhancements (i.e. those that do not produce new dwellings) should result in 3 443 reconstructed dwellings (38.2 %).

The planning and building control authorities permitted the construction of buildings with floor space 1 140 074 m2 ( 4.1 %), of which 635 485 m2 was in residential buildings (+ 4.8 %) and 504 589 m2 in non-residential buildings ( 13.4 %). A floor space of 1 063 994 m2 was obtained in new constructions and 76 080 m2 by renewals and enhancements.

The approximate value of the constructions, for the commencement of which the planning and building control authorities granted building permits by the end of December, amounts to CZK 44 914 million at current prices, which translates into an increase of CZK 586 million on the corresponding period of 2006.
A total of CZK 26 843 million (a decrease of CZK 329 million year-on-year, i.e. 1.2 %) should be spent on construction of buildings, of which CZK 14 115 million on residential buildings (by CZK 36 million less) and CZK 12 728 million on non-residential ones ( CZK 293 million).
A total of CZK 4 433 million should be invested in constructions for environmental protection - i.e. by CZK 1 407 million more than in the corresponding period of 2006.
The approximate value for the other constructions amounts to CZK 13 638 million - a decrease of CZK 492 million on the corresponding period of 2006.

*) New Act No. 183/2006 Sb., on territorial planning and the building code (the Building Act), is in force from 1 January 2007. This Act, especially in Sections 103 and 104, regulates newly the problem of “granting building permits”. The new Act may have an impact on absolute values in the time series covering building permits and renewals and enhancements, particularly numbers of building permits and their approximate value for non-residential buildings, environmental and other constructions.