Lahore: The Lahore Development Authority (LDA) rules were implemented in order to facilitate real estate developers and promote activity in the city’s construction sector, according to LDA Director General (DG) Ahmed Aziz Tarar. The DG shared this information while chairing a meeting held on Thursday (March 5).
According to news sources, other regional development authorities were adopting the LDA rules as well to facilitate real estate builders and developers in their respective cities. The session in which the LDA DG shared the details on these rules was attended by Town Planning Department of Engineering University Head Professor Shakir Mehmood, Chief Metro Planner Syed Nadeem Akhtar, leading developers Shiraz Mano and Akhbar Sheikh, and prominent town planners Wasim Ahmed Khan and Waheed Ahmed Butt.
The meeting members were informed that the LDA had simplified the process for issuing approvals for private housing schemes. For this purpose, the LDA is coordinating with the Water and Sanitation Authority and the Traffic Engineering and Planning Authority. Furthermore, the planning permission clause for approval of housing schemes within 60 days has also been revoked.
In addition to the above-mentioned changes, the LDA has allowed the sale and purchase of plots prior to the issuance of final approval for private housing schemes once their developers make the payment of fees and get technical approval of their societies’ layout plan. The LDA has also allowed an increase in the commercial area in private societies in order to promote business activities. Moreover, it has removed the condition of seeking an NOC from the Environment Department prior to the issuance of a final (LDA) approval.
The LDA has now allowed private developers, under the Land Acquisition Rules, to acquire 10% of the society’s planned area by paying the market rate. In addition, rules have been made more flexible on the inclusion of a graveyard in each society — with one such facility required to be present within a five kilometer area of the society.
Some conditions were further introduced recently to make and keep the city greener, which requires developers to plant 10 trees per every 1 kanal of land, as well as set up parks, golf courses and similar green facilities for entertainment purposes. The LDA Laws now also encourage developers to construct multistory residential buildings within the housing societies.
