Is it a numbers game when it comes to housing? It appears to be more than that, particularly in underdeveloped and developing countries such as Pakistan and other third-world countries, where land availability has remained constant since the beginning of time, but population growth and its basic demands of habitat, food, and clothing, all of which are dependent on the same always available land, are increasing, not by days, but by moments.
As a result, a country’s geographical area remains constant, while the need for Food, Clothing, and Shelter is always increasing owing to population increase. In 1900, the world’s population was estimated to be over 4 billion people; currently, it is estimated to be 7.67 billion people. Pakistan’s population grew from 58 million in 1970 to over 200 million in 2019.
In 1970, when the population was 58 million, the density was 66 persons per square kilometer; now, it is 227 persons per square kilometer, and by the turn of the century, it will be 425 persons per square kilometer.
As a result, with each passing day, more people will require more and more housing, food, and clothes from the same area. As a result, the Pakistani government, led by Prime Minister Imran Khan, has resolved to address the long-ignored yet grave problem before it becomes fully out of hand.
Pakistan’s housing shortfall is estimated to be between 11 and 12 million people. As a result, the Prime Minister set a lofty goal for his government: to reduce the yearly shortfall by one million people by the year 2020. Learn more about the Naya Pakistan Housing scheme – Kingdom Valley.
Housing for all: a beloved mission and a strategy for realizing the lofty goal
The following are the areas where Prime Minister’s Task Forces should focus in order to facilitate or make available 10 lac housing units every year (50 lac over a 5-year period):
- 4 lacs units per year in rural areas
- 2 lacs units per year in peri-urban regions
- 4 lacs units per year in urban areas
It is critical to remember that, for the first time in Pakistan, policymakers in the capital city of Islamabad are proactively thinking, talking, and planning for housing in Pakistan’s rural areas, which account for nearly 68 percent of the country, or two-thirds of the country, and have long been conveniently ignored.
Along with the core issue of housing scarcity in urban metropolitan areas, the Prime Minister’s housing initiative prioritises rural and peri-urban housing difficulties.
At terms of income groups, the PM Housing Program focuses on lower-middle, low-income housing as well as housing challenges in the Bottom-of-Pyramid. Slum and Katchi-Abadi improvements receive special attention in this programme, with the goal of addressing the age-old issue of inhabitants’ title/ownership concerns and their eligibility for financial support, which may need verification of real estate ownership at times.
The goal of 10 lac dwelling units each year was set to be attained in the following way:
Housing for the Low-Income: Rural Housing: 4 lacs per year (40 percent of target) – Moving towards adequate housing/habitat; maximum cost: Rs 5 lacs
Maximum loan amount: Rs 4 lacs
Community-based self-development is one of the proposed supply-side delivery channels.
Proposed Funding
-Side Delivery Channels: ZTBL, Commercial Banks, and Eligible Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) Housing in Peri-Urban Areas: 2 Lacs/Year (20 percent of target)
– The cost of slum rehabilitation, urban restoration, and regeneration Maximum amount: Rs 15 lakhs
Maximum loan amount: Rs 12.5 lakhs
Private-sector developers are proposed as supply-side delivery channels.
Finance
-Side Delivery Channels: Banks, Savings and Loan Institutions (SHFIs)
Housing in urban areas: 4 lacs per year (40 percent of objective) — Mixed Habitat Development by Developers and the Private Sector:
The maximum cost is Rs 30 lakhs.
Finance Limit: Up to a 90:10 LTV
Private-sector developers are proposed as supply-side delivery channels.
Banks, SHFIs, and other finance-side delivery channels are proposed.
Higher-Income Middle-Class Housing: based on market demand:
Maximum cost: Rs 30-100 lakhs
Finance Limit: Up to a 90:10 LTV
Private-sector developers are proposed as supply-side delivery channels.
Banks, SHFIs, and other finance-side delivery channels are proposed.
Possibility of establishing additional cities and satellite towns
The Prime Minister’s Task Force is working on a war footing to put all of the Federal Government’s accessible lands on record and under one roof, with massive efforts to get the provincial governments on board for using their governments’ available properties for this august purpose. The following is a quick, but inconclusive, list of currently available lands with several federal agencies:
The Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) holds 110,000 acres of property in various locations that is essentially held by the federal government and might be used to construct new towns, industrial estates, and commercial areas for economic activities. Here are a few examples:
16,000-acre Nankana Sahib: It is possible to build a vast metropolis there.
The Prime Minister’s initiative for youth empowerment via rural housing, as well as the actions taken to start the programme:
According to the PM’s vision, Dr. Fariha Tariq, Head HRC-UMT, Lahore, has designed a highly effective and well-tested program for forming small construction companies in Punjab province from unemployed university graduates in construction-related fields such as civil engineering, architecture, and town planning, with a capital base of Rs 4-5 million per company.
According to the idea, they would build modest Model Village Houses. A model village will feature fifty dwellings on average, as well as a common space, a small commercial center, clinics, and other amenities. Local untrained labor would be used by these construction enterprises, who would be trained by a team of specialists as needed.
Further testing of the program’s viability is required.
Other projects are in the works:
- Information Repository of the Land Bank…
- Google Mark a location on a map.
- Foreign developers/investors have expressed an interest in manufacturing. Housing Reception Desk and Facilitation Center in the Development Stage at the Beard of Investment (BoI) for Foreign Developers/Investors in Housing.
- Backward integration with industry for large-scale building material manufacturing, such as cement, steel, doors/windows, sanitary wares, cables, and so on.
- Size standardization in order to promote large-scale production and distribution through well-known outlets: Concept of “Home Depot”
- Solar energy is available through retail outlets as well as mini-grids.
