Lahore to follow Karachi’s footsteps — upwards

[Salman]

In Lahore, the LDA received 15,318 new building approval requests for the year 2014. PHOTO: RIAZ AHMED/EXPRESS

LAHORE: It seems like Lahore will resort to the same tactic as Karachi.

After spreading and expanding, literally exploring new territories, urbanisation in Punjab’s provincial capital means that town planners and construction companies are now shifting their focus on vertical endeavours as the influx of people rises.

Following the footsteps of Karachi, where the concept of multi-story residential buildings is common, the habitants of Lahore have started accepting the trend, though not much has been done by private developers in this regard.

The Lahore Development Authority (LDA) has relaxed its rules for commercial plots to be used for residential buildings recently to encourage apartment construction.  But experts have said that this trend should favour the lower-income group.

“There is a mismatch in demand and what is being produced in the housing sector,” saidZaamin Group Chairman Akbar Sheikh, while talking to The Express Tribune.

“The prices of housing units in Lahore are out of reach for the majority.

In order to provide affordable units to such a group, developers should focus on the particular segment.”

With an acute shortage of housing units in Pakistan, industry experts are unsure of the actual deficit, but World Bank statistics for 2009 suggested demand for housing units was increasing at 8% per annum in urban centres.

The total housing units in Pakistan were estimated at 20.48 million, whereas total shortfall of houses was estimated at 7.57 million. In Lahore, the LDA received 15,318 new building approval requests for the year 2014.

These requests are only for LDA controlled areas, where as experts say that if we include the number from cantonments and the Defence Housing Authority, the figure would easily multiply.

According to Sheikh, the demand and supply of newly constructed units have a deficit of around 0.15 to 0.2 million.

There is no doubt that in the last decade, Lahore has witnessed expansion in real estate. As a result, several new housing schemes have emerged, ultimately pushing the boundaries of the city with its districts, said an LDA official.

But this expansion is not helping the mass middle and lower-middle income group as these societies are more investment centric.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th,  2015.