The number of residential and administrative building permits issued in Bulgaria continued to decrease in the last quarter of 2010, with only industrial permits registering a slight increase in built-up area on a quarterly basis, National Statistics Institute (NSI) data showed on Wednesday.

Local authorities granted 1,152 housing permits between October and December 2010, down 12.1% against the previous quarter and 14.2% year on year.

The greenlighted housing properties are seen to accommodate 2,705 apartments with a combined floor space of 377,727 sq m.
Most of the permits for new homes were issued in the cities of Bourgas, Sofia and Varna.

Administrative permits dropped by 7.1% in quarterly terms and by 17.5% on the year to 52 in the period. The buildings will cover 30 940 sq m of built-up area, down by 7.1% compared with the previous quarter.

The number of permits for projects categorised as "other buildings" fell 8.7% to 1,108 compared with the previous three months, but their gross area climbed 3.2% to 609, 019 sq m.