Ghauri Town Islamabad – An account of the recent happenings

This society has lately been in news due to the Capital Development Authority (CDA) declaring it illegal. The civic authority, on orders of the Supreme Court, is currently busy dealing with unapproved housing societies in Islamabad.

Being a huge development that’s already home to around 150,000 families, the news concerns many. Here are the detail on this.

The details

Located in Islamabad Zones IV and V, Ghauri Town comprises of a total of seven phases; Phases I, II, III, IV, V, VII, and VIII, all of which have been declared illegal by the CDA on accounts of not providing space for parks, playgrounds, schools, mosques, graveyards, health centres, public amenity plots, and open spaces, according to a news source. Raja Akbar Ali and Company and Abdur Rehman Associates – the developers of Ghauri Town – have also been served with notices to stop advertising, marketing, booking, doing allotment for plots and carrying out development work in the society, read the news report.

The developer’s response

The society’s management has reapplied for an NOC from the CDA formally, according to a publication. While addressing the investors and residents, the development partners have assured that they are willing to address the CDA’s demand to get an NOC. The publication also claimed that the society management has followed transparent procedures to transfer land to the respective owner by following the due process and that not even a single case of fraud was reported in the past by a plot owner on not getting possession of the plot they purchased.

Project details

Ghauri Town is located on Islamabad Expressway, close to the Benazir International Airport. It was launched in 2000. According to Raja Anser of Kashmir Associates, Phases I to III have almost no plots left, Phases V and Phase VI only have 3% to 5% plots, with houses constructed on the rest of the plots while Phase VII and VIII are in development phase.

The society is essentially targeted at buyers from the mid-range income group, which is why it doesn’t extensively features facilities such as huge parks, wide and spacious boulevards, open and landscaped areas, and enough space allocated for public amenities and facilities. Commenting on this, Zahoor Ahmed from Ittehad Estate said that availability of such facilities increased the development cost, leaving it too expensive for many end users to afford buying land here.

The developers’ main target was also the middle class, since no phase here features plots bigger than 10-marla – a plot size which is also found in relatively smaller numbers, Jumma Gul of Ghouri Real Estate & Builders said. Here, you will mostly find residential plots in sizes of 5-marla, while other options include 4-marla, 6-marla, and 7-marla plots.

Facilities and features

In Phases I to V, connections for electricity, water, and gas are available. The society otherwise doesn’t have many parks and playgrounds. Some private schools are present, which are operated in campuses built on smaller plots that are being merged together with the management’s approval, said Anser. According to Ahmed, commercial markets here are found extensively but only in the designated areas and plots. The rates and rental prices of shops in these market is also high, he added.

Buying Trends

Most of the agents providing the latest information on Ghauri Town have seen no drop in demand for property in Ghauri Town ever since the CDA declared it illegal. Gul believes that people looking for affordable options in terms of houses, plots, and rental spaces find Ghauri Town attractive.

Anser and Ahmed have shared similar observations and added that all agents operating in Ghauri Town, property buyers and the investors are hopeful that the society management will sort issues hindering the CDA from granting an NOC for the project, clearing the air for the new buyers and investors. They also expect that the development of Phases VII and VIII done according to the CDA will make these phases even more popular and potentially rewarding phases to invest in.

That was the latest from Ghauri Town. If you wish to leave your feedback on it or have a question, use the comments section below. You can also find out what our property experts on the Zameen Forum have to say about the idea of buying property in Ghauri Town by starting a new discussion.