When will the government ballot Ashiana-e-Iqbal Apartments?

When it was launched almost two years ago, Ashiana-e-Iqbal Apartments received more than 61,000 applications. The project was initiated by the Punjab government to cater to the housing needs of people from low-income groups. However, a ballot for these applications is yet to be held.

According to a government official, a summary for the ballot has been sent to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif; however, the chief minister has not approved it yet.

The government plans to develop the project under a public-private partnership. Many government organisations, including Planning and Development Department (PDD), Punjab Land Development Company Limited (PLDCL), Lahore Development Authority (LDA) and Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) have been working on the project’s feasibility and other development related tasks, but the balloting date is yet to be announced. The government official I spoke to told me that the apartments in question would be balloted by June or July this year.

The official also rubbished rumours that the project was being developed by Paragon City (Pvt) Ltd, and added that the contract had already been given to another company.

Why is Ashiana-e-Iqbal Apartments attractive?

The reason is obvious: the project has been launched to offer affordable housing units. And considering the situation of property prices in Lahore, Ashiana-e-Iqbal Apartments is simply too good to pass up in terms of prices. See the payment plan below to get an idea of the affordability factor I am talking about:

Unfortunately, this payment plan is not available on the PLDCL website anymore. Perhaps the authorities concerned will issue a new payment plan at the time of balloting. I hope the prices of these apartments will not rise, but even if the prices do increase slightly, the project will remain feasible for those on the lookout for inexpensive housing units available on easy instalments.

I have also got to know that ground levelling has been done at the site and proper development work will begin once the balloting is out of the way.

The list of all the people that applied for a slice of the project was available on the PLDCL website some time ago; however, if you want to check the status of your application now you need to submit your CNIC number to the website to get the relevant details.

I understand that all the applicants of Ashiana-e-Iqbal Apartments have been waiting for the ballot to take place for quite some time now, but from the looks of it, they probably need to wait for a few more months. Let’s see how the future unfolds for this project. I will also keep an eye out so that I can provide you with the latest information.

What do you people think about this project? Let me know in the comment’s section.