The Balearics seeks more than a quarter less building permits than in 2009

MADRID
APPLICATIONS for licenses to build new homes fell in the Balearics by 28 percent in the first seven months of this year in comparison with the same period in 2009, Central Government reported yesterday.

The Ministry for Public Works confirmed that there were 992 applications made in the Balearics from January to July, revealing that the downturn was more pronounced in the Islands than it was in the country as a whole.

At a national level, said a ministry spokesman, the decline in requests for property building licenses fell by 18.2 percent in the first seven months of this year.

Of all the applications that were made between January and July this year, the spokesman said, 73.3 percent were for blocks of flats and the remainder for individual family housing. Although there is still a downward trend said the spokesman, it is vastly different to figures at the end of last year which showed that applications for permits had nosedived by 58.1 percent in comparison with 2008, and that even at the end of January this year, it could be seen that requests were down by a year-on-year figure of 35.7 percent. The figures indicate that at least the decline is slowing down, the ministry claimed, adding that whilst interest in new building continues to fall, there has been an upturn in applications for reforms of already-existing property.

Across the country, there were 20'835 requests for licences to carry out reforms and property restorations made during the first seven months of this year, 12.1 percent more than had been submitted during the same period in 2009.