MEPA approved 18,840 development permits in five years

Since 1 January 2009, the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) approved 18,840 full development permits, the Prime Minister revealed in his reply to a Parliamentary Question tabled by Labour MP Deo Debattista.

In his question, Debattista asked the Prime Minister how many development permits were issued by MEPA in the last five years and in which localities these developments were approved.

In little less then five years, MEPA approved 18,840 full development permits, however this number could be misleading as the statistics include all permits issued at all stages, including the first decision, appeals and reconsiderations.

The information does not give a precise indication, the Prime Minister noted, adding that an indivisual application could be registered more then once, since development applications can be appealed and re-approved upon certain conditions.

Birkirkara tops the table of approved applications with 771, followed by Mosta (687), Naxxar (658), Qormi (617) and Mellieha (594).

Official census figures released by the National Statistics Office in July show that the number of vacant properties shot up from 53,136 in 2005 to a staggering 72,150 in 2011. Vacant properties had already increased by 17,000 since 1995. This means that since 1995 the number of vacant properties has doubled.

The census also showed the percentage of vacant dwellings rising from 26% in 2005 to 32% in 2011. The census registered 153,100 occupied dwellings, meaning that there is one vacant dwelling for every two occupied ones.