Lahore: The draft of Commercialisation Policy formed by Lahore Development Authority on orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan has been finalised, according to which, commercial use of residential property will no longer be allowed, reported a news source. If and when the new policy is implemented, annual commercialisation of residential property for commercial activities will be terminated.
Reportedly, the LDA had allowed the annual commercialisation of residential properties on order of the exiting chief minister of Punjab. For this purpose, Land Revenue Rules 2014 were also amended. The annual commercialisation policy had affected the residential feel of many neighbourhoods in Lahore. This also allowed for opening of private schools and corporate offices in many houses in areas that were previously residential. To form the policy, LDA recently obtained data of 6,400 buildings in various housing schemes in Lahore.
It was also noticed that in order to avoid commercialisation on a permanent basis, laws defined in Lahore master plan were also breached. The annual commercialisation policy nonetheless helped LDA earn billions in terms of commercialisation fees. Due to such policies, properties of civilians were also put on stake, where around 7,000 cases of property owners affected due to the commercialisation policy are awaiting verdict in courts.
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