Cubic volume of building permits drops in March-May

Building permits were granted for a total of 8.8 million cubic metres in March to May 2020, 27.6 per cent less than one year ago, according to the Statistics Finland.

The cubic volume granted for residential building construction went down by 13.7 per cent and the cubic volume granted for other than residential building construction by 32.7 per cent.

The cubic volume for all building types decreased from one year ago, most the cubic volume granted for construction of public service buildings, by 41.6 per cent.

Due to circumstances related to the coronavirus situation and the start of the summer holiday season, the municipality-specific delay in building permit notifications has been somewhat longer than usual. The data are supplemented only as a result of the notification.

During March to May, building permits for residential building construction were granted for a total of 2.8 million cubic metres. The corresponding figure was 3.3 million cubic metres one year ago. The cubic volume granted for blocks of flats diminished by 14.4 per cent and that for detached houses by 10.5 per cent from one year ago.

In March to May, building permits were granted for a total of 8,883 dwellings, down by 15.8 per cent year on year. At the same time, construction of a total of 11,730 dwellings was started, up by 11.8 per cent from that in the corresponding period of the previous year.

In March to May, the constant-price value or the volume of ongoing building production increased 2.3 per cent year on year. The volume of construction of residential buildings declined by 2.8 per cent, while that of other than residential building construction increased by 6.4 per cent in the period. Measured by volume, 4.9 per cent more building projects than one year earlier were started in the same period. The number of residential building starts was 11.8 per cent higher than one year ago.