A total of 176 building plans were approved by the City of Windhoek in January, representing a 79.6% m/m increase from the 98 building plans approved in December. In monetary terms, the approvals were valued at N$128.7 million. 2022 is off to a better start in both number and value terms compared to January 2021 when 122 building plans worth N$84.0 million got the nod. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, 2,505 building plans worth approximately N$2.01 billion were approved, an increase in number of 9.7% y/y and 14.9% y/y in value terms over the prior 12-month period.
In terms of both number and value, additions to properties made up the largest portion of approvals. For the month of January, 99 additions to properties were approved with a value of N$75.4 million, 28 more than the number of additions approved in January 2021. The value of approvals is however slightly skewed by a single large approval of N$21.1 million during the month. 40 Additions worth N$9.2 million were completed during the month.
New residential units were the second largest contributor to the total number of building plans approved in January. 74 New units worth N$47.7 million were approved during the month, representing a 6.9% decrease from the N$51.3 million worth of approvals in the first month of 2021. On a 12-month cumulative basis, residential units recorded a 20.7% y/y increase in value. 30 New residential units worth N$17.1 million were completed during the month.
3 New commercial units, valued at N$5.5 million, were approved in January. This compares to 1 unit valued at N$7.0 million approved in January 2021. On average over the last 20 years, 4 commercial units valued at N$26.5 million were approved in the first month of the year. On a rolling 12-month perspective, the number of commercial and industrial approvals have increased to 39 units worth N$169.9 million as at January, compared to the 36 approved units worth N$202.2 million over the corresponding period a year ago. 1 Commercial unit worth N$140,000 was completed in January.
The 12-month cumulative number of building plans approved increased by 9.7% y/y in January. A total of 2,505 building plans to the value of N$2.01 billion were approved over the last 12 months which represents an increase in value terms of 14.9% y/y. Additions to properties, which are generally smaller projects, continue to make up the lion’s share of building plan approvals, although residential units are encouragingly starting to make up a larger portion of overall approvals. Since March 2020, the number of commercial and industrial approvals have remained in the low single digit territory, signalling a lack of investment from businesses. It is evident that the Namibian construction industry continues to tread water as the value of approvals continues to decline in real terms, as the chart above shows.
