Islamabad: According to news sources, the first NPHP housing project for Islamabad was inaugurated by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan in Phulgaran on Thursday.
This project was launched under the Naya Pakistan Housing Project (NPHP) programme. It encompasses land in the city’s Phulgaran locale, where the construction of a housing scheme under the Bahria Town administration was already underway.
During the ceremony, the PM remarked that the non-existence of sufficient foreclosure laws posed the hardest obstacle in the progress of the government’s housing scheme. He said that due to the lack of this legal framework, the banks were rendered unable to sell mortgaged properties when homeowners defaulted on their loans.
In Pakistan, the term ‘foreclosure’ is somewhat wrongly used in the sense of the right of the mortgagee to sell the mortgaged property to enforce a secured debt.
The PM said that there is a huge backlog of houses owing to banks’ refusal to grant housing loans, whereas, in India, banks offer 10 per cent housing loans, 30 per cent in Malaysia and 90 per cent in the United Kingdom.
The PM Khan also said that the government is obliged to carry out the project through a public-private corporation, due to its lack of the funds to finance it independently. He also mentioned that out of 18,500 housing facilities, 10,000 would be constructed to support those who lack the capital to develop it for themselves. The project will take 1 to 5 years to reach completion, he added.
Mr Khan said the government aims to transform the shanty settlements to well-planned housing schemes, on a national scale. According to the plan that’s still in the pipelines; half area of these shanty settlements will be commercialized, while the remaining half will be made into low-cost apartments. These apartments will be awarded to the residents of these settlements to dwell in, without having to relocate.
The PM also spoke of the negotiations underway with interested developers, to offer property rights to the residents of the shanty settlements. He revealed the intention of many foreign investors looking to put up capital in the housing sector of Pakistan. He called it a new era in the housing sector, where those most deserving will get private houses of their own.
The Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation Director General Wasim Bajwa also spoke to the source and said that the land for the project was offered by Bahria Town at very nominal rates.
This project will oversee the construction 18,500 housing units for the low-income to inhibit on a mortgage base. The said housing scheme is being executed in collaboration with Bahria Town under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSP).
The DG said that for the NPHP programme, a land of 1,785-Kanals has been acquired from the Bahria Town. He further stated that the management of Bahria Town has also conceded to the development of the 10,000 housing units for NPHP in the neighbourhood. The cost of this land will be retired to the Bahria Town once the housing units are sold, he added.
Bajwa declared that it was the first housing scheme developed solely for the general public’s benefit under NHHP, as the previous NPHP schemes mostly benefitted the federal government employees, with only a meagre inclusion of the general public (70%- 30% ratio).
When asked about the mortgage policy, the DG maintained that two-three banks, including the House Building Finance Corporation (HBFC), has been reeled in to offer easy loans, with a monthly instalment of PKR 10,000, to the individuals for the development of the houses.
