Category Archives: Building Plans

A total of 169 building plans were approved by the City of Windhoek in March, representing a 17.6% m/m decrease from the 205 building plans approved in February. In monetary terms, the approvals were valued at N$142.5 million, a decrease of N$82.4 million compared to last month. The number of completions for the month of March stood at 275, valued at N$218.4 million. The year-to-date value of approved building plans reached N$556.7 million, 3.1% lower than in the first quarter of 2019. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, 2,035 building plans have been approved as at the end of March, a decrease of 7.2% y/y. The 12-month cumulative value of plans approved reached approximately N$1.97 billion, a decrease of 0.5% y/y.

Additions to properties made up 154 of the total 169 approved building plans recorded in March. This is a 6.1% m/m decrease in additions from the 164 additions recorded in February. In the first quarter of the year 416 additions to properties have been approved with a value of N$172.9 million, a 28.2% y/y drop in terms of value. 241 additions worth N$190.0 million were completed during the month.

Only 10 new residential units were approved in March, 18 units fewer than in February and the lowest number of approvals in a single month since December 2015. In value terms, N$10.5 million worth of residential units were approved in March, 90.3% less than the N$108.6 million worth of residential approvals in February. 55 New residential units have been approved in the first quarter of 2020, 38.2% less than during the corresponding period in 2019. The year-to-date value of residential approvals reached N$136.9 million, 43.3% lower than during the first quarter of 2019. 33 new residential units worth N$22.9 million were completed during the month.

Commercial and industrial building plans approved in March amounted to 5 units, worth N$89.1 million. This is 8 units fewer than approved in the prior month, but an increase of 306.2% m/m and 1,355.1% y/y in value terms, although this is from a low base. Year-to-date, 24 plans for commercial and industrial purposes have been approved, valued at N$247.0 million. On a rolling 12-month perspective the number of commercial and industrial approvals have increased to 63 units as at March, compared to the 38 approved over the corresponding period a year ago. One commercial and industrial unit worth N$5.5 million was completed in March.

Building plan approvals for Q1 of 2020 remained more or less in line with Q1 2019 with three more approvals in Q1 2020 compared to 2019, but a decrease of 3.1% y/y in terms of value at N$556.7 million. This data precedes the lockdown restrictions imposed by government.

A total of 205 building plans were approved by the City of Windhoek in February, 84 more than in January. In value terms, approvals rose by N$35.4 million to N$224.8 million in February from N$189.4 million worth of approvals in January. A total of 34 building plans were completed at a value of N$41.5 million in February. Year-to-date, N$414.2 million worth of building plans have been approved. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, 2,024 building plans were approved worth approximately N$1.96 billion, 1.2% higher in value terms than cumulative approvals in February 2019.

The largest number of building plan approvals in February were made up of additions to properties. 164 additions to properties were approved with a value of N$94.3 million, 18.4% less in value terms than in February 2019. Year-to-date 262 additions to properties have been approved with a value of N$129.9 million, a 13.5% y/y decline in value terms. 13 additions worth N$9.1 million were completed during the month.

New residential units accounted for 28 of the total 205 approvals registered in February, 11 more than the 17 residential units approved in January. In value terms, N$108.6 million worth of residential units were approved in February, 511.5% more than the N$17.8 million worth of residential approvals in January. It should however be noted that one of these residential approvals is a N$71.0 million project. Year-to-date 45 residential units have been approved, 16 fewer than during the corresponding period in 2019. In monetary terms, N$126.4 million worth of new residential plans have been approved year-to-date, a decrease of 39.6% when compared to the corresponding period last year. 21 new residential units worth N$32.4 million were completed during the month.

13 New commercial units valued at N$21.9 million were approved in February, bringing the year-to-date number of approvals to 19, worth a total of N$157.9 million. On a rolling 12-month perspective, the number of commercial and industrial approvals have increased to 61 units worth N$647.3 million as at February, compared to the 39 approved units worth N$449.0 million over the corresponding period a year ago. No commercial and industrial units were completed in February.

In the last 12 months, 2,024 building plans have been approved, down 6.5% y/y in terms of number of approvals, but up 1.2% y/y in terms of value. Year-to-date, the total value of building plan approvals was down 7.1% y/y from the corresponding period in 2019.

A total of 121 building plans were approved by the City of Windhoek in January, representing a 33.0% m/m increase from the 91 building plans approved in December. In monetary terms, the approvals were valued at N$189.4 million, an increase of N$23.0 million compared to last month. Buildings with a value of N$16.4 million were completed during January. January 2020 is off to a slower start in terms of both number and value of approvals, compared to January 2019 when 162 building plans worth N$272.7 million got the nod. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, 1,991 building plans worth approximately N$1.90 billion were approved, a decline in number of 6.4% y/y, but an increase of 3.6% in value terms over the prior 12-month period.

In terms of number of approvals, additions to properties made up the largest portion of approvals. For the month of January, 98 additions to properties were approved with a value of N$35.7 million, 33 fewer than the number of additions approved in January 2019. The value of the additions approved in January is however only N$864,000 less than those observed in the first month of 2019. 14 additions worth N$3.6 million were completed during the month.

New residential units were the second largest contributor to the total number of building plans approved in January. 17 new units worth N$17.8 million were approved in January, representing an 89.4% decrease from the N$167.9 million worth of approvals in the first month of 2019. On a 12-month cumulative basis, residential units recorded a 30.3% y/y decrease in number of approvals and a 27.3% y/y decrease in value. 19 new residential units worth N$12.8 million were completed during the month.

Commercial and industrial building plans approved in January amounted to 6 units, worth N$136.0 million. This compares to 2 units valued at N$70.0 million approved in January 2019. On average over the last 20 years, 4 commercial units valued at N$26.2 million were approved in the first month of the year. It is interesting to note that three of January 2020’s approvals, worth N$85.3 million, are part of a large building project planned in the Otjomuise vicinity. No commercial and industrial units were completed in January.

The 12-month cumulative number of building plans approved decreased by 6.4% y/y in January. A total of 1,991 building plans to the value of N$1.91 billion were approved over the last 12 months which represents an increase in value terms of 3.6% y/y. The majority of these approvals are additions to properties which are typically of low relative value. While growth in commercial and industrial construction activity has picked up slightly, it is from a low base, and construction activity in the commercial and industrial space remains very subdued. The low number of approvals is an indication that the construction sector is likely to remain under pressure during the rest of the year.