EDITORIAL: Illegal housing schemes have become a persistent scam due to lax regulatory oversight. They typically are developed by politically influential individuals or those facilitated by corrupt officials in the government departments concerned.
People invest their life savings in properties that are either not registered or exist only on paper. This has gone on for far too long with the relevant authorities turning a blind eye to the activity. Aspiring homeowners jointly have lost billions of rupees to fraudulent developers purchasing plots in some of the better known housing societies only to find them declared illegal. Just last March, Director General of NAB Lahore distributed cheques worth Rs 1.16 billion among 11,000 victims of one such society.
The proliferation of illegal housing schemes is a matter of serious concern requiring urgent action. At a recent briefing Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz was informed that the total number of housing societies in Punjab stood at 7,905, covering an area of about 2 million kanal — mostly comprising encroachments on the greenbelts surrounding cities at the expense of environment.
Out of these only 2,687 are approved and almost double that number, i.e., 5,118, are illegal or under process across Punjab. In the provincial capital, the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) is responsible for as many as 707 schemes, 427 of them have been given the green light while 206 fall in the illegal category — probably due to pending litigation — while 74 others are in the approval process.
But private housing societies remain a problem. In many cases, their proprietors continue to build without necessary approval by greasing the palms of officials or using political connections. The result is mushroom growth of private housing schemes, especially on the fringes of the city, contributing to an unplanned urban sprawl.
At the briefing session the CM said the housing schemes that have been built should be regularised as soon as possible so that people could get a relief. She also mentioned setting up of a ‘housing society management system’ to regularise the sector’s affairs. The key, however, is not only a new management mechanism but also ensuring that developers comply with relevant rules and regulations, and the buyers are well informed.
An important step in that direction is the CM’s decision to introduce transparency through digitalisation of the housing schemes. If and when the plan is implemented, housing societies’ approval, management, and transfer will be put online. And as announced, NOC fee will also be paid online after uploading the required documents. This should help control illegalities and also defrauding of unsuspecting buyers of non-existent plots in non-existent housing societies.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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