After what was a rather slow last year for the project, LDA City Lahore has fared quite well – so far – in 2019.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan had earlier taken up a civil case registered against the society, which was subsequently disposed off in January. As per the verdict, the authorities were directed to compensate the affectees of the scheme. The apex court also ordered LDA to hand over the possession of plots to the 9,000 people who had purchased their corresponding files in the project.
As per society officials, LDA City Lahore’s latest 2019 news breakthrough is that development work in the project has begun. And the expected plot balloting run is also on the cards – although the granting of possessions will likely take some time.
There are still, however, a number of matters that remain pending for the society; though the year ahead looks to be a promising one.
Updates on LDA City Lahore
In addition to describing the current scenario, this blog will detail the most prominent developments anticipated from LDA City Lahore during 2019. It will also briefly explore the project’s present status of land-acquisition. At its conclusion, you will be able to fairly assess where the project is likely to stand by the end of the year – and whether you should proceed with your investment plans (or not)!
Development Project:
The simplest answer to this basic investor query is: not particularly fast, at present.
However, according to the various property experts interviewed, some of the project-approval formalities pertaining to the society are still pending – which means that the development work is currently proceeding at a nominal pace.
Some machinery is presently engaged in levelling the project’s main boulevard, and roads are being chalked out; but apart from this, there is not much construction activity.
The hold-up, according to Mian Azeem of Lahore Havalian Estate, is the formal tendering process required to sanction the project. As per his sources, the authorities are yet to give a final approval to the tender; without which proper (fast-paced) development cannot really begin.
At the same time, Azeem estimates that by the end of the year, the development status of LDA City Phase I will figure somewhere between 50-70%. The project’s essential constructions, in any case, will be completed within this timeframe.
Land Acquisition:
From the outset, the primary issue facing LDA City Lahore has been that of adequate land acquisition.
At present, LDA City Phase I requires a consolidated land area of around 13,000 kanals. This much is essential for suitably compensating the 9,000 file-owners referenced in the introduction.
According to project authorities, the agency required an additional 4,500 kanals of consolidated land for commencing with its first phase development work – announced soon after the Supreme Court mediated the case.
In the three months since, LDA has been working hard to acquire this land mass. According to Muhammad Khurram of EZE Property, so far, more than 700 kanals of this seemingly mammoth figure have been attained.
Both Khurram and Azeem, however, estimate this acquisition process to be proceeding at a good pace -expected to be completed by the end of 2019.
LDA City Balloting News:
The balloting in LDA City has been awaited since the beginning of 2018. However, there is no confirmed news (or date) on this issue yet. However, Khurram anticipates it to take place sometime around November.
Azeem offers a similar (through only broadly committing) opinion.
He believes that the balloting run will be held near the end of the year.
Possession:
Here, too, a general agreement exists among the three real estate experts consulted for this blog. All in all, they reason that possession will take time. Buyers (people interested in taking up residence over the long haul) and investors should expect a period of around 2-3 years.
And with all things considered, this observation does not really come as a surprise.
Azeem, in particular, emphatically states that possessions should not be expected before 2021.
File Prices & Investment Options:
Soon after the apex court’s disposal of the case, LDA City Lahore file prices shot up quickly. The 5-marla file, in particular, went up to PKR 1.8 million. Similar upwards price trend were observed for the 10-marla and 1-kanal file categories.
Since January, when these sudden increments first came into effect, file prices, while still higher than what they were previously, have now settled down – with PKR 1.6 million currently being recorded for the 5-marla plot document. Meanwhile, the prices for 10-marla plot files range between PKR 2.2 and 2.4 million.
1-kanal plot files can be bought for PKR 3.5 million.
Despite LDA City’s lacklustre market performance in 2018, the project has still managed to provide sizeable profits for smart investors. These were the individuals who had good holding power to begin with, and who may have bought the file when prices were as low as PKR 1.3 million.
At the moment, however, the prospects of long-term investment in the project look really bright. Both end-users – people looking to construct a home within a few years – and investors are buying up project files quickly.
Commenting on this trend, Azeem and Khurram feel that any investments made in LDA City today will bring high returns in the next 2 to 3 years. So if you’ve been waiting for the green signal to pitch your own stake in the society, now may be the perfect time to jump in!
