CC-123 · Planning & Housing · Development & construction

KPMG: 8,716 residential units approved in 2024, up 7.4%

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The claim

“According to data published by the NSO, a total of 8,716 residential units were granted approval in 2024, representing a 7.4% increase compared with 2023 ... Between January and June 2025, 5,170 permits were sanctioned, reflecting a significant year-on-year increase of 9.7%.”

KPMG, Construction Industry and Property Market Report 2025, commissioned by the Malta Development Association (Dec 2025, section 2.1), citing NSO data: 8,716 residential units were granted approval in 2024, a 7.4% increase on 2023, and 5,170 permits were sanctioned in January to June 2025, a 9.7% year-on-year increase, so the 2025 total is expected to surpass 2024.

Who: KPMG
Where: City Gate, Valletta (national claim)
When: December 2025
Wording: Verbatim found

Context

MaltaToday, reporting parliamentary data, gave total building permits falling from a 2018 peak of 2,868 to 1,749 in 2024; permits and dwelling units are different counts (one permit can cover many units), and the report moves from 'units' (2024) to 'permits' (H1 2025). The report itself says the full-year projection assumes the first-half growth continues. Developers cite bureaucracy and labour shortages for delays (MDA, reported).

Limitations

Candidate from the weekly intake of 11 Oct 2026. The claimant is KPMG; the report was commissioned by the Malta Development Association, a developers' body, and the MDA's endorsement of this section is not recorded. The figures restate NSO data, so the check is of the restatement and the units/permits wording. Related to CC-062 (same report) and CC-013, CC-019 in subject.

What it will be tested against

NSO development permits / residential permits releases (units approved by year and half-year); Planning Authority permit statistics; Eurostat building permits (sts_cobp_a or equivalent) for the index of dwellings permitted; compare the NSO and parliamentary counts and the units-versus-permits definitions.

Sources

Construction Industry and Property Market Report 2025 (section 2.1 Residential permits, PDF p. 37), KPMG for the Malta Development Association, 2025-12. Original · Archived copy
The claim. Text extracted and read on 11 Oct 2026; not committed (copyright). The same report is the source of CC-062.

Right of reply

Not applicable until a draft verdict exists.

Connections

How this claim relates to the others: who made it, the themes it shares with other claims, and the patterns it shows. A connection is a reason to read two checks side by side. It does not make either one right or wrong. How connections are found.

Who made it

KPMG

Other claims by KPMG 1

CC-062 Construction is 9-14% of the economy (Largely supported)

Linked directly 4

Claims that share a theme with this one. A theme is a cause, a mechanism, a target or a way of presenting figures that the editors have found in several claims; its strength says how close the link is.

Planning, housing and land take Shared driver · Strong

Permit volumes, enforcement and housing demand drive land take. Claims about prices, enforcement, reclamation and land loss rest on the same planning system and the same data (PA permits, NSO prices, land-cover maps).

Two steps away 11

Not linked to this claim directly, but linked to a claim that is. These are found by following the links, not chosen by the editors, so they are looser: they show where one theme meets another.

CC-001 Upper Barrakka concrete (Not substantiated)through Planning, housing and land takeCC-019Sealed soil and concrete
CC-002 Comino tree compensation (Largely supported)through Planning, housing and land takeCC-019Sealed soil and concrete
CC-008 Flyovers and congestion (Not substantiated)through Planning, housing and land takeCC-019Sealed soil and concrete
CC-012 Ta' Qali gravel and grass (Contradicted)through Planning, housing and land takeCC-019Sealed soil and concrete
CC-017 Land reclamation outside the Freeport (Not substantiated)through Planning, housing and land takeCC-013Planning, housing and land take or Planning, housing and land takeCC-014Planning, housing and land take or Planning, housing and land takeCC-019Planning, housing and land take
CC-018 IMF 'confirms' MDA on housing (Largely supported)through Planning, housing and land takeCC-013Planning, housing and land take or Planning, housing and land takeCC-014Planning, housing and land take or Planning, housing and land takeCC-019Planning, housing and land take
CC-058 96% of farmland in use (not yet checked)through Planning, housing and land takeCC-019Planning, housing and land take
CC-059 Subsidies are 20% of farm output (not yet checked)through Planning, housing and land takeCC-019Farmland and farming pressure
CC-060 7,000 first-time buyers helped (not yet checked)through Planning, housing and land takeCC-013Planning, housing and land take
CC-127 EU: Malta has the lowest organic share in the EU (not yet checked)through Planning, housing and land takeCC-019Farmland and farming pressure
CC-130 NGOs: ODZ racecourse policy ends protection (not yet checked)through Planning, housing and land takeCC-019Farmland and farming pressure

Three steps away 13

One step further again. At this distance a connection says more about how the themes fit together than about this claim.

CC-003 Per-capita emissions vs 2030 projection (Misleading)through Planning, housing and land takeCC-019Sealed soil and concreteCC-008Transport, air and climate
CC-004 'Strong progress' in waste separation (Not substantiated)through Planning, housing and land takeCC-013Planning, housing and land takeCC-017Waste and construction
CC-007 Within EU limits vs WHO guideline (Largely supported)through Planning, housing and land takeCC-019Sealed soil and concreteCC-008Transport, air and climate
CC-010 Tree-planting counts (Largely supported)through Planning, housing and land takeCC-019Sealed soil and concreteCC-001Replanting as currency
CC-016 Shore-to-ship: 90% less harbour pollution (Misleading)through Planning, housing and land takeCC-019Sealed soil and concreteCC-008Transport, air and climate
CC-021 Malta-Gozo tunnel traffic (not yet checked)through Planning, housing and land takeCC-019Sealed soil and concreteCC-008Transport, air and climate
CC-056 Central Link: 'only 254 trees' (not yet checked)through Planning, housing and land takeCC-019Sealed soil and concreteCC-008Replanting as currency
CC-063 Construction waste: 'standstill' warning (Not substantiated)through Planning, housing and land takeCC-013Planning, housing and land takeCC-017Waste and construction
CC-069 82 million bus trips (not yet checked)through Planning, housing and land takeCC-019Sealed soil and concreteCC-008Transport, air and climate
CC-072 EUR 15m to take cars off the road (not yet checked)through Planning, housing and land takeCC-019Sealed soil and concreteCC-008Transport, air and climate
CC-076 36 more vehicles a day (Supported)through Planning, housing and land takeCC-019Sealed soil and concreteCC-008Transport, air and climate
CC-109 EU: transport is 48% of effort-sharing emissions (Largely supported)through Planning, housing and land takeCC-019Sealed soil and concreteCC-008Transport, air and climate
CC-115 Chamber: congestion cost EUR 770m, 3.4% of GDP (Not substantiated)through Planning, housing and land takeCC-019Sealed soil and concreteCC-008Transport, air and climate

Similar wording

Claims whose own words overlap with this one, with the words they share. Found by comparing the wording of the claims, not their verdicts; a lead to read them together, not a finding.

CC-062 Construction is 9-14% of the economy (Largely supported)shares: kpmg, construction, commissioned

Timeline

What was said, what was published before and after it, and each step of this check, in date order. Statements and sources carry the date they were published. The steps of the check carry the date the research was done, from the check's research log. Other statements by the same body on the same topic show whether a position was repeated, changed or corrected.

2025
1. December 2025 The statement KPMG (this claim)
2. December 2025 Statement published Construction Industry and Property Market Report 2025, section 2.1 (PDF p. 37), KPMG for the Malta Development Association
3. December 2025 Statement by KPMG on Planning & Housing CC-062 Construction is 9-14% of the economy (Largely supported)
2026
1. 11 October 2026 Added to the claims to check

Every change to this claim's record is public: history of the record.