Approximately, 9 percent people of the total population of Pakistan go to sleep without a roof over their heads. Having a roof over your and your family’s head is a blessing in Pakistan and ability to improve the living conditions is a luxury. Pakistan’s housing sector and real estate holds great significance due to large population and population density. Unfortunately, this sector has been ignored and neglected by many governments. In this desolated scenario, the current government of Pakistan launched a project called Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme with the objective to provide homes to people who don’t have a roof or have low incomes ensuring housing for all.
On 10th October 2018, Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated ‘Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme’, a housing project based on the initiative to build 5 million houses and provide them at cheaper prices to the more needed class under this scheme. For this project, the government announced an authoritative body ‘Naya Pakistan Housing authority’ that takes care of all the matters regarding this policy. These include pre-requisite approvals, applications, installments etc.
Current Status of the program:
The government has already launched the first two phases of this project where the initiatives have been taken in seven districts of Pakistan; Quetta, Sukkur, Swat Gilgit, Muzaffarabad, Faisalabad, and Islamabad. The government has handed over the registration process to the NADRA and in the second phase, NADRA has begun the registration process. The government has also digitized the registration process to make it more convenient and advanced. In the second phase, the project will be initiated in Khushab, Layyah and Bakkar.
Land searching has been started in Peshawar, Swat and Hangu districts and around 4100 kanal land has been identified in Surizai in Peshawar, 4000 Kanal in Hangu district and 300 kanal has been allocated in Swat. As per the reports and sources, government is aiming to construct about 7,500,000 units in KP over a period of next five years.
Since the registration is done, Naya Pakistan housing authority has also approached the tenders to construct the houses and take the project with further proceedings. Other than local companies, many international companies have shown their interest in this project. A Chinese company called Sunrise Corporation has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Punjab government and plan to build on 10,000 units in different areas of Punjab using the extensive technology. The will bring the prefabricated houses for the first time in Pakistan. Other than this, companies from United Arab Emirates have also shown interest in building housing units under this program. Despite of government’s initiative of working with the foreign countries, they still have planned to hire local labor for the construction. However, technicians and engineer can be international to an extent but local talent and labor will be given preference.
The size of the houses ranges from 3 marla to 5 marla and the allotment of the units to the contractors will be done on the basis of balloting or auction. The government plans to build the houses with best materials and technology possible keeping the costs low. They also want to draw ease of basic amnesties around these areas such as well-maintained roads, sewerage system, provision of electricity and gas and other necessities nearby.
A lot of people have registered with enthusiasm hoping to change for good. This project has gained remarkable popularity among the masses and government seems hopeful too despite of the challenges faced.
How does it work?
Naya Pakistan housing scheme is a mutual agreement project between the government and the private companies. According to this scheme, Naya Pakistan Housing Authority will search and verify for the unused land. They will have the complete authority over the land and provide the land to the construction company. The authority will also make sure that the construction company starts working on that project and avoid any sort of obstacle that might delay the process. The construction company will make sure that they use the best cost-effective products and methods for the construction and provide them at the lowest possible rate to the end user. The end consumer will get the house based on the application and then first come first get basis.
The authority has decided that this project will take place in the following cities for now;
- Islamabad
- Lahore
- Gujranwala
- Rawalpindi
- Swat
- Multan
- Bahawalpur
- Kasur
- Sialkot
- Jhelum
- Layyah
- Faisalabad
- Muzaffargarh
- Muzaffarabad
- Sukkur
- Sialkot
- Vehari
- Gilgit
- Quetta
- Dera Ghazi Khan
The project also plans to build 200,000 houses on the outskirts of Karachi as they have assigned Association of Builders and Developers on this task.
Registration process and eligibility:
All Pakistani citizens are eligible for the program. However, only one member from each family can apply and must possess a valid national identity card (NIC). The housing scheme is aimed to take place on complete merit and preference will be given to the most needed one such as the people who don’t own a house. The applicants will have to mention in their income by choosing from the given options,
- Less than Rs. 20,000
- From Rs. 20,001 to 40,000
- From Rs. 40,001 to 60,000
- From Rs. 60,001 to 100,000
- Over Rs. 100,000
However, the first two categories are the most preferred ones and applications will be approved after complete check and balance, keeping it fair game.
For the registrations, applications can register online. Visit the official website of Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme and download the form from the website. They will be required to fill out the form with some details such as Name, NIC number, income details and contact info. They will also have to pay a registration fee of Rs. 250 through easy paisa, Jazzcash or debit card and submit the form online. Applicants can also download the form and submit it with all the details and required attachments to the nearest NADRA E-Sahulat Centre with a registration fee of Rs. 250. The applicants can also the chose the district or union they prefer to live in with the installation plan.
All the houses built under the Naya Pakistan housing Scheme are based on three categories;
- Labor Class
- Lower middle class
- Middle class
Since this program is based on low-cost housing need, the houses offered in different regions are of 3 to 5 Marla, as a single storey of 1 or 2 bedrooms and double storey as 3 or 4 bedrooms, depending on the size of the house. These houses come with easy installation plans without burdening the buyers and providing a roof under their heads.
Installation plans and pricing structure:
As per the program, applicants have to make the 20% of the down payment and the rest of 80 percent will go according to the proposed financial modeling. The installation plans will have a span of about 15 to 20 years and each house in the unit will cost around 15 to 20 lacs only.
- 3 Marla: 16 to 18 lacs
- 5 Marla: 21 to 23 lacs
The monthly installments of each unit will be according to the average rental levels to the make the entire process pleasant. Applicants also have to make a refundable payment of 10,000 with the down payment. In case of rejection of the application, the refundable amount will be returned back and in case of acceptance, it will be adjusted within the down payment.
The pricing structure can be better understood by this table below;
| 3 Marla | 5 Marla | |
| Registration Fee | PKR 250 | PKR 250 |
| Refundable Deposit | PKR 10,000 | PKR 10,000 |
| Down Payment | PKR 1.6-1.80 lacs (1-storey) PKR 2.5-3 lacs (double storey) | PKR 2.1-2.8 lacs (1-storey) PKR 3-4 lacs (double storey) |
| Total Payment | PKR 16.5-17.5 lacs (1-storey) PKR 23-27 lacs (double storey) | PKR 21-25 lacs (1-storey) PKR 30-36 lacs (double storey) |
(The data has been derived from PHATA (Pakistan Housing and Town Planning Authority) and is based on the houses in Layyah, Bhakkar, and Quiadabad offered under the third phase of Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme. The sizes of house as mentioned above varies from 3 Marla to 5 Marla with single or double storey)
Mobile Application for NPHP:
The government of Pakistan has also launched a mobile application for Naya Pakistan Housing Program, compatible with both, IOS and android phones. User of this application can have the information regarding the registration dates, eligibility criteria, NADRA centers, registration process, and installment plans.
Inauguration of 20,000 housing units:
On March 11, 2020, Imran Khan inaugurated the seven projects by breaking the ground. It aims to construct 20,000 housing units in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore and Quetta against the cost of 100 billion. Khan also expressed his pleasure over the decision of Lahore High Court regarding the foreclosure laws, saying the LHC judgment would bring a revolution in the housing sector through increased financing by the banks. He believes that the cities are being expanded and this will help to fight with problems like pollution, population, security of food and shelter.
Final thoughts:
The project and the initiative behind this project has to be applauded as this is an ambitious program. It will cater the basic needs of low-income class of Pakistan and the extend the facilitation to those associated with the construction sector, improving the industry. It is also expected to improve the poverty conditions of Pakistan and improve the economic activity and thus providing employment opportunities. However, the impact and effects of this project are yet to be seen. There are also certain challenges faced by the builders such as the finance to build house which indicates that they will seek loans from commercial banks.
Other than this, the authority has not been able to attract to serious buyers as yet. Only a few applicants have made their initial payments and several applicants have withdrawn their applications in Chiniot, Okkara, Lodhran, Quaidabad and Kushab. And considering the current coronavirus crisis, construction of the houses doesn’t seem to be happening in the current fiscal year. Other than construction of the houses, sewerage and road infrastructure has to be resolved in those areas before this project kicks-off.
With the level of poverty and neglect on neglect we are dealing with, it seems unfair to judge a project so soon. It will take large scale spending and building from both, the public and private sector to cope up with this problem with a population of 220 million. Regardless of the situations around the glove, everyone has their eyes peeled for any development of Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme and Prime Minister Imran Khan seems all hopeful from this initiative as well.
