City approves fewer building plans this year

The City of Windhoek approved a total of 189 building plans during the month of July, worth N$145 million. This is according to the latest building plans report by financial services company IJG Research, which notes a 17% drop in value compared to plans approved for Windhoek in 2014. July’s figures brought the number of plans approved by the Windhoek municipality this year to 1 552, with a total value of N$1.3 billion. Over the same period in 2014, the City approved 1 679 plans, whose total worth was N$1.5 billion. “This decrease is mainly due to base effects, as three large commercial projects were approved by the municipality in February 2014,” the IJG Research report released on Sunday reads. Plans approved in July were down 13.2% from the previous month, due to a fall in the value of approved commercial property and houses compared to June. “The 12-month cumulative value of plans approved also fell from (N$2.1 billion) in June to N$2042.3 million this month, along with the cumulative number of plans approved, which fell from 2 802 in June, to 2 719,” the researchers said. The company maintained an earlier assessment that the construction sector would continue to lead growth and development sectors in the Namibian economy in 2015, given aggressive developmental plans from both government and the private sector. WINDHOEK STAFF REPORTER