Feb 10, 2022: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said the approval of over 70,000 housing projects worth Rs 1.4 trillion so far would have an overall impact of Rs 7.3 trillion on the construction industry, besides creating 1.2 million jobs.

It was the government’s huge achievement that 35,420 applications amounting to Rs 130 billion, out of a total of 80,000, had so far been approved and a total of Rs 46 billion disbursed to 13,407 applicants, he added.

The prime minister was chairing a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on Housing, Construction and Development here.

The meeting was attended by federal ministers Shaukat Tarin and Chauhdry Fawad Hussain, Minister of State Farrukh Habib, Special Assistant to PM Dr Shahbaz Gill, State Bank Governor Reza Baqir, Naya Pakistan Housing and Development Authority (NAPHDA) Chairman Lt Gen ® Anwar Ali Haider, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ravi Urban Development Authority (RUDA) Imran Amin, chief secretaries of Punjab and Balochistan, and other senior officials concerned.

The prime minister said with applications worth Rs 7 billion being received weekly, Rs 4 billion was approved and Rs 2 billion was being disbursed every week which showed that the devised system was working efficiently.

He added that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had achieved a huge milestone regarding the provision of low-cost housing to lower and middle-income classes.

The prime minister said the present government's biggest challenge was to change the elitist mindset of financial institutions and ensure the facilitation of common people in getting loans.

He, however, pointed out that the data of loans approval and disbursement at an average of Rs 3.6 million showed the middle and lower-income classes as the biggest beneficiary of subsidized loans.

The prime minister further said that in the last three years of the government, a 148% increase in housing finance and expected approval of Rs 517 billion till December 2022 reflected the steps taken by the government to facilitate the low-cost housing and construction industry.

In line with the PTI's manifesto, the government was moving in the direction to add 1% every year in the housing finance against the country’s GDP that would result in the construction boom and provision of houses to the lower and middle income classed, he added.

The meeting was briefed that for the first time in the country’s history, a sustainable ecosystem for low-cost housing had been developed and implemented, which had enabled the construction sector to achieve exponential growth.

It was told that the foreclosure law had been implemented in letter and spirit, and long term loans (up to 20 years) with subsidized markup (as low as only 2%) were being given.

In addition to that, a cost subsidy of Rs 300,000 for low-income housing schemes and a 90% tax waiver had resulted in encouraging the private sector, which was actively participating in the construction of housing units under the schemes.

The projects included urban, peri-urban, urban regeneration, and government-funded and private sector projects, it was told.

The meeting was also briefed about the transparent and automated process to receive and process the applications, which had resulted in targeting the needful lower and middle income classes.

It was being ensured by the development of a one-window digital portal with an automated application tracking system by development authorities.

The meeting was also briefed on figures regarding the total low-cost housing construction activity after 2018.

The meeting was told that out of a total of 161,924 low-cost housing units approved so far, 20,898 had been completed and 45,191 were under construction, which was significant bearing in mind that before the subsidies, foreclosure law and low-cost housing schemes by the PTI government, the sector was in a shambles.

A breakup of the government-financed low-cost housing projects was also given, according to which 4000 units in Farash Town (Islamabad), 4000 units in LDA City (Lahore), 1320 units in Jalozai (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), 245 units in Raiwind, 324 units in Sargodha and Chinniot, and 1800 units at Angoori Road (Islamabad) were being constructed with completion deadlines before the end of 2022.

The meeting was also told that a total of 2507 projects worth Rs 627 billion had been registered on FBR Portal under the Fixed Tax Regime which had an impact of Rs 3.135 trillion on the economy.

The prime minister directed to complete the projects in the defined timelines and emphasized taking steps to improve and ease the process for low-cost housing projects.

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