Housing: building permits down 5% in November

The number of building permits granted for housing in France fell by 5.7% in November compared with the previous month, still a long way from the pre-Covid level, according to provisional data published by the government on Tuesday.
In November, 26,900 building permits for housing were authorized, bringing the number of housing units authorized over one year, between December 2023 and November 2024, to 330,900, according to these public statistics.
The number of authorizations issued over this period is down 11.9% on the previous twelve months, and is 28% below the level observed during the twelve months preceding the Covid-19 health crisis, between March 2019 and February 2020, notes the Ministry in charge of Housing.
Building starts, for their part, saw a very slight increase in November compared with the previous month: 20,900 housing units started, or 0.6% more than in October. But this is still 35% less than in the 12 months prior to the health crisis, the Ministry points out.
Between December 2023 and November 2024, 258,500 housing units were started, 16.2% less than in the previous 12 months.
New construction is caught up in a serious crisis. Construction costs have risen sharply due to higher material prices and stricter environmental standards.