Islamabad: The commission formed for the revision of the Islamabad master plan has recommended that rules for establishing housing societies in the federal capital should be eased – a news source reported.
The commission has proposed changing the rules so that housing schemes can be developed on a minimum of 200 kanals of land, instead of the previous 400 kanal, as long as the planning parameters are met.
The commission will present its draft report before the federal cabinet soon. In their previous meeting, its members had discussed that housing societies avoid obtaining no-objection certificates (NOCs) because of the rules, resulting in unauthorised construction.
Currently, there are more than 100 illegal housing projects in Islamabad and a majority of the land has already been sold to secondary buyers, even though in many of these cases the land was initially reserved for green areas, amenities, schools and parks.
Due to shortage of land, the commission report recommends allowing housing societies to build on 200 kanals of land, however, they will have to leave some land for amenities, in accordance with formula for 400-kanal societies.
The commission has also recommended one more storey for all commercial centres.
