Category Archives: Building Plans

A total of 237 building plans were approved by the City of Windhoek in September, representing a 2.2% m/m increase from the 232 building plans approved in August. In value terms, the approvals were valued at N$149.4 million, a 34.0% m/m decline from the N$226.3 million approved in August. Year-to-date, 1,904 building plans worth N$1.41 billion have been approved, 4.7% y/y higher in number terms and 0.4% higher in value terms than at the same time last year. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, the number of approvals climbed by 1.0% y/y to 2,536 but in value terms declined by 3.8% y/y to N$1.96 billion. 86 building plans worth N$107.5 million were completed in September.  

Additions to properties once again made up the largest portion of approvals in both number and value terms. In September, 169 additions to properties were approved valued at N$57.7 million, the same number as last month, but 60.9% m/m lower in value terms. The month-on-month drop in the value of additions was somewhat expected given that last month’s data contained N$100 million worth of additions to the Lady Pohamba Hospital, which was an outlier. Year-to-date 1,262 additions to properties have been approved worth N$700.2 million, representing a 12.1% y/y jump in number terms and a 32.1% y/y increase in value terms. September saw 52 additions worth N$17.8 million completed, slightly down from the previous month.

New residential units were the second largest contributor to the number and value of building plans approved. 62 new residential units were approved in September compared to the 55 recorded in August. In value terms N$48.6 million worth of residential units were approved during the month, representing a 19.0% m/m rise from the N$40.9 million approved in August but declining by 44.1% on a y/y basis. Year to date, 606 residential units valued at N$568.7 million were approved, representing an 8.7% y/y drop in number terms and a 27.3% y/y decline in value terms. The twelve-month cumulative number and value of residential units approved fell for a 6^th consecutive month on a year-on-year basis in September. 782 residential units were approved in the last twelve months to September, a 14.3% y/y decline from the 913 units approved in September last year. In value terms, N$824.7 million worth of residential units were approved over the past 12 months, representing a 30.2% y/y drop. 29 New residential units worth N$33.99 million were completed during September, up 78.9% m/m from the N$19.0 million completed in August.

Approvals of commercial and industrial units remained in the single-digit territory as has been the case since February 2020. 6 new commercial and industrial units valued at N$43.1 million were approved in September, the highest value recorded since October last year. Year-to-date, 36 commercial and industrial buildings valued at N$144.2 million were approved up until the end of Q3, compared to the 29 commercial buildings worth N$94.8 million at the end of Q3 2021. This represents a 24.1% y/y jump in number terms and a 52.0% y/y rise in value terms. On a rolling 12-month perspective, 44 commercial and industrial buildings valued at N$220.7 million were approved in September, compared to the 37 approved buildings worth N$149.0 million over the corresponding period a year ago. 5 commercial and industrial units worth N$55.7 million were completed in September, the highest value recorded this year.

The twelve-month cumulative value of both building plans approved and completed fell in nominal, as well as inflation-adjusted, terms in September as reflected in the graphs above and below.

On a 12-month cumulative basis, 2,536 building plans worth N$1.97 billion were approved, representing a 1.0% y/y increase in number terms but a 3.8% y/y drop in value terms. Additions to properties which made up over two-thirds of this number of approvals rose by 9.9% y/y to 1,710, and is trending at levels last seen in late 2018. Encouragingly, the 12-month cumulative number of commercial and industrial building plan approvals have steadily been ticking up over the last couple of months, and has reached the levels last seen in October 2020. The cumulative number of residential unit approvals fell by 14.3% y/y but at 782 remains well above historical levels. The 20-year average 12-month number of plan approvals remained steady at 2,451 in September.

Completed building plans once again saw strong growth in 12-month cumulative value growing by 26.9% y/y to N$971.2 million in September but falling by 23.4% y/y in number terms to 1,057, the lowest 12-month cumulative figure recorded since March 2018.

The City of Windhoek approved a total of 232 building plans in August, representing a 21.6% m/m decrease from the 296 building plans approved in July. In value terms, the approvals were valued at N$226.3 million, a 19.8% decline from the N$282.0 million approved in July. So far in 2022 there have been 1,667 approvals, worth N$1.26 billion. This year-to-date figure is 4.8% higher in number terms and 1.2% higher in value terms than at the same time last year. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, the number of approvals has risen by 0.4% y/y to 2,527 but the value of these approvals has declined by 2.3% y/y to N$1.98 billion. The number of completions for August came in at 79, valued at N$79.0 million.

Additions to properties made up the largest portion of approvals in both number and value terms. 169 additions to properties were approved valued at N$147.8 million, decreasing by 5.6% m/m in number terms but increasing 37.9% m/m in value terms, the highest value of approvals in a single month since January 2018. It should however be noted that N$100 million worth of additions to the Lady Pohamba Hospital in Kleine Kuppe alone made up 67.7% of this total. Year-to-date 1,093 additions to properties have been approved with a value of N$642.5 million, an 11.2% y/y increase in number terms and a 37.9% y/y increase in value terms. 37 Additions worth N$19.6 million were completed in August.

New residential units were the second largest contributor to the number and value of building plans approved with 55 approvals registered in August compared to 112 in July. In value terms N$40.9 million worth of residential units were approved in August, an 75.8% m/m decrease from the high base in July, and a 51.4% y/y decline. On a 12-month cumulative basis, the number of residential units approved fell by 12.6% y/y to 801. 25 New residential units worth N$19.0 million were completed during August, a 26.7% m/m decrease in value terms.

8 New commercial and industrial units valued at N$37.7 million were approved in August. This compares to 5 units valued at N$20.4 million in August 2021 and is the highest number of approvals since February 2020. Year-to-date there have been 30 commercial and industrial building approvals valued at N$101.1 million, translating to a 20.0% y/y increase in number, and a 15.1% y/y increase in value terms compared to the same period last year. On a rolling 12-month perspective, the number of commercial and industrial approvals increased to 42 units worth N$184.6 million, compared to the 34 approved units worth N$143.0 million over the corresponding period a year ago. One commercial and industrial unit worth N$2.2 million was completed in August.

As shown in the figure above, the cumulative value of building plans approved has been ticking up slightly in nominal terms in recent months but continues to trend down in inflation-adjusted terms The 12-month cumulative value of plans completed however continues trend down in both nominal and real terms, as shown in the graph below.

On a 12-month cumulative basis, 2,527 building plans to the value of N$1.98 billion were approved which represents a 0.4% y/y increase in number terms but a 2.3 y/y decrease in value terms. Additions to properties continue to make up most of the cumulative approvals at 66.6% in number terms. The number of commercial and industrial approvals have increased by 23.5% y/y on a 12-month cumulative basis, despite remaining in a single-digit territory since March 2020, indicating that it is from a very low base. As mentioned earlier, the 8 commercial building plan approvals in August was the highest since February 2020. While the number of approvals of a single month cannot be used to infer a change in trend, the relatively high number of commercial approvals in August is still encouraging as it indicates that some corporates are expanding their operations. Completed building plans increased by 29.4% y/y in value terms to N$984.0 million on a 12-month cumulative basis, the first increase since June 2021.

A total of 296 building plans were approved by the City of Windhoek during July, representing a 30.4% m/m increase from the 227 building plans approved in June. In value terms, the approvals were valued at N$282.0 million, an increase of 138.5% m/m from a downward revised N$118.2 million in June. Year-to-date 1,435 building plans were approved worth N$1.04 billion, increasing by 7.2% y/y in number terms but declining 4.6% y/y in value terms. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, 2,548 buildings with a combined value of N$1.91 billion were approved, rising by 2.0% y/y in terms of the number of plans approved but declining 3.1% y/y in value terms over the prior 12-month period. 79 building plans worth N$51.2 million were completed during July.

Additions to properties continue to make up the lion’s share of building plans approvals in both number and value terms, as has been the case since the beginning of the year. 179 additions to properties worth N$107.1 million were approved in July, increasing by 17.0% m/m in number terms and 121.2% m/m in value terms from a downward revised N$48.4 million in June. 46 Additions worth N$6.83 million were completed during July.

New residential units were the second largest contributor to the number and value of building plans approved with 112 approvals recorded in July, compared to 69 in June. In value terms, N$168.8 million worth of residential units were approved during the month, a 206.9% m/m increase from June and the highest value since October 2020. On a year-on-year basis, the value of residential unit approvals increased by 110.0%, ending six consecutive months of declines. On a 12-month cumulative basis, residential unit approvals continued to fall, declining by 8.9% y/y in number terms and 19.0% y/y in value terms. 32 New residential units worth N$41.39 million were completed during July, a 30.2% m/m increase in terms of the value, despite declining by 31.9% m/m in terms of the number of units completed.

The number of new commercial and industrial unit approvals remained steady from last month. 5 New commercial units worth N$6.1 million were approved in July, declining 58.9% m/m from the N$14.8 million recorded last month. Year-to-date there have been 22 commercial building approvals worth N$63.4 million, which translates to a 5.9% y/y decline in the value of approvals, despite the number of commercial plan approvals being 10.0% higher y/y. On a rolling 12-month perspective, the number of commercial and industrial approvals increased to 39 units worth N$167.4 million, compared to the 30 units approved worth N$137.6 million over the same period a year ago. Only 1 commercial and industrial unit worth N$3.0 million was completed in July.

The twelve-month cumulative value of both building plans approved and completed ended a 5-months long downward trend both in nominal and inflation-adjusted terms as illustrated in the figures above and below. Despite this uptick, the twelve-month cumulative value of plans approved and completed contracted when compared to the corresponding period a year ago. The twelve-month cumulative value of plans approved declined by 3.1% y/y to N$1.91 billion as noted above, while the cumulative value of plans completed dropped by 6.9% y/y to N$1.01 billion. The twelve-month cumulative number of plans approved at 2,548 is above the twenty-year historical average of 2,447.