Residential plots to commercial use: ABAD hails FFC’s ruling on lifting conversion ban

KARACHI: Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD) has warmly welcomed the Federal Constitutional Court’s ruling lifting the long-standing ban on converting residential plots to commercial use, calling it a watershed moment for Karachi’s construction industry, urban planning landscape, and broader economic outlook.

ABAD Chairman Muhammad Hassan Bakhshi said the verdict brings an end to years of crippling uncertainty that had driven illegal activity and stalled legitimate development across the city.

“Unlike other cities of Pakistan, the suspension of legal commercialisation of residential plots in Karachi had allowed the illegal plot mafia to remain continuously active,” Bakhshi said.

The case, which had been pending in court since 2019, was finally resolved in 2026, a wait of nearly seven years that Bakhshi said had inflicted considerable damage on the construction sector and undermined investor confidence.

“If court decisions are made promptly, the country’s economic wheel continues to move smoothly, and investment activities do not face unnecessary obstacles,” the ABAD chairman said, adding that delayed judgments adversely affect business and leave citizens mired in prolonged uncertainty.

Bakhshi drew a clear line around the scope of the ruling, saying that ABAD firmly opposed any commercial conversion of parks, mosques, hospitals, or other amenity plots designated for public welfare and community services.

The chairman also pointed to a broader pattern of legal complications that has hampered Karachi’s development. Ongoing filings of Civil Miscellaneous Applications (CMAs) in cases related to law-and-order issues and illegal constructions, he said, had subjected citizens and investors alike to years of difficulty and uncertainty, severely hampering construction activities and stifling development projects.

With the court’s ruling now in place, Bakhshi expressed optimism that the judicial process had been restored on a sound footing and hoped the verdict would revitalize legal construction activity, bring greater order to urban planning in Karachi, and send a positive signal to the investment community.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026