Islamabad: The Real Estate Consultants Association (RECA) for the Defence Housing Authority Islamabad-Rawalpindi (DHA I-R), through a notification carried in a print publication on Tuesday (July 21), shared its suggestions with the government to help revive the country’s real estate sector.
Through this print advertisement, the association addressed Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and Punjab Chief (CM) Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar. They requested for specific measures to be taken — in addition to those announced earlier under the PM Relief Package for the Construction Industry — in order to ensure the complete revival of the sector.
In this regard, the association requested the PM and CM to arrange for a meeting with RECA’s delegation, in which the association members can share their suggestions on forming a more comprehensive and result-oriented mechanism in order to make the aforementioned relief package work better.
The association also appreciated the PM for the tax relief measures announced for the real estate sector in the Budget 2020-21. The publication also mentioned that while the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had not increased the property rates notified in the valuation tables for the purpose of collected taxes at the federal level, the Board of Revenue (BOR) Punjab had notified a stark rise in the DC rate. In addition, the BOR hadn’t fixed the anomalies in the DC rates and the properties’ market prices.
To further explain these anomalies, the RECA’s publication mentioned that the current average per marla market rate of residential plots in DHA Valley was PKR 100,000, while its per marla DC rate (as of July 1, 2020) stands at PKR 550,000. Similarly, the per marla market rate of residential plots in DHA Phase II Extension is PKR 150,000, while its current DC rate is PKR 302,500.
RECA believes that if these anomalies aren’t addressed on a priority basis, the construction sector relief package will not deliver the desired results, and even lead to revenue losses for the government.
Samra Zulfiqar, a real estate analyst at Zameen.com, is passionate about finding projects that offer buyers the best returns. Her keen insights spotlight the market’s most promising opportunities.
