For want of a comprehensive policy, the housing backlog in the country has continued to grow over the years, surging to about 10.5 million units against 7.57 million in 2010. It is projected to increase to 13.5 million units by 2025, according to sources in the housing industry.

Owing to population growth, rapid urbanisation and depletion of the existing stocks, the current annual demand for housing in the country is around 750,000 units, but only some 450,000 units are being built, leaving a shortfall of 300,000 units.

Though our future economic growth, social development, and employment generation is tied to providing housing, according to knowledgeable circles, only five per cent of the country’s population was provided housing loans.

Considered as one of the main drivers of economic growth, the construction and housing industry accounts for 10-12 per cent of GDP and seven per cent of employment globally. While it can become one of the biggest creators of jobs, it can also engage some 70 supporting industries, thus creating demand for growth of economy on the one hand and alleviating poverty on the other.

The Shaukat Aziz administration had declared this sector as a priority industry in 2005, and also formulated a national housing policy for accelerating housing activity. But the policy was designed only to facilitate provision of housing inputs, like land, building materials and finance. The government also enhanced the house financing by banks to 10 per cent from the previous five per cent, while maximum loan limit was increased to Rs10 million from Rs5 million, debt-equity ratio from 70:30 to 80:20 and loan tenure from 15 to 20 years.

Immediately after receiving vote of confidence as the country’s Prime Minister, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, in a policy statement in the National Assembly on March 29, 2008, also declared that the government would take steps to provide home to homeless by launching a programme to construct one million houses annually. He said a 5-marla scheme would be launched in the rural areas, while flats and 80 meter houses would be built in the urban areas, where Katchi Abadis would be regularised besides providing better residential facilities to the government employees, each of whom would be given a house on retirement.

After the announcement, some projects were launched both in the public and the private sector but the target of achieving one million new houses a year remained a far cry. These measures could not reduce the shortage of houses but these did succeed in attracting private investors, including foreigners, to the real estate sector, with new ideas and standards to attract people.

At about 20.5 million, the present housing stock in Pakistan is highly inadequate to meet the constantly growing requirements of the people. Furthermore, Pakistan’s urban population is expanding rapidly due to the rural-urban migration. Most of the rural folks are moving to cities to earn a good living, avail better education and other civic facilities. Surge in the urban population and skyrocketing prices of housing units make it difficult for the homeless to own a home of their own.

During Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani’s tenure some MPs had demanded for the creation of a housing colony for the MPs exclusively. At that time, PML-N and Jamaat-e-Islami had opposed the move. One fails to understand why should government adopt a different yardstick for allotment of residential plots to the MPs, especially when they are provided with comfortable living accommodation in the Parliamentary Lodges for the entire duration of their parliamentary term at very nominal rates?

Before that Shaukat Aziz administration had allotted more than one residential plots to the elite, including the federal secretaries in Islamabad while to citizens the CDA followed the policy of providing residential plots through open bids. It may be recalled that the government employees could own only one residential plot throughout Pakistan during their entire service career. Consequently, the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly expressed its deep concern over the provision of more than one plot to the bureaucrats. However, the cadres are still getting more than one residential plots, one way or the other, while the poor and destitute are impelled to live in shanty towns.

The ever-widening demand-supply gap has resulted in mushroom growth of squatter colonies or slum localities, particularly in main urban centres and metropolitan towns where many families are constrained to live in one-room shanty lodges. Generally, the slum-dwellers face many obstacles, which deny them a permanent and decent shelter with a minimum of basic amenities, like water, sanitation, electricity, gas, drainage and, above all, proper healthcare and education facilities.

With rise in shortage, the number of informal housing units in the urban areas has increased from 1.9 million in 1981 to over four million.

In Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), there has been a mushroom growth of the housing societies. Presently, according to CDA officials, around 45 legitimate and 105 illegal housing societies are operating in the ICT territory. Thousands of people have purchased plots in these societies and in some cases have even constructed houses. In many cases, the management of these housing societies, in connivance with CDA, first got the layout plan approved and when people purchased plots the CDA cancelled the layout plans.

As regards the cooperative housing societies in Islamabad’s E/11 sector, despite their meagre resources they have done a commendable job as far as the pace of development and construction of buildings is concerned. Well-designed houses and buildings dot this sector. It may be recalled that CDA had floated E/11 and E/12 sectors simultaneously in the mid-1980s. The development and allotment of plots in the E/11 sector was entrusted to the cooperative societies whereas CDA retained with itself work pertaining to the development of land and allotment of plots in the E/12 sector. Despite its huge resources, CDA has not been able to take the possession of the land in E/12 sector.

Pushed by great demand for houses in Islamabad, the cooperative societies, in connivance with ICT and CDA, managed to sell the lands reserved for parks, schools, mosques and graveyards to persons desperately looking for land to build houses. However, the CDA has now directed the utility companies -- IESCO and SNGCO -- not to provide connections to the illegal housing societies, including some of the cooperative societies. What a novel way to meet the housing deficit for which CDA was primarily established and that remains its prime responsibility?

Since the demand for housing has been constantly rising, builders have exploited the public craving for a house of their own by constructing more and more high-rise buildings. A glaring example of this trend can be seen in Islamabad’s E/11 sector, which now gives the look of a highly commercialised zone. The good work of cooperative societies, which have done a good job and became instrumental in providing decent living accommodation to thousands of people, need to be acknowledged and appreciated, but of late CDA has been creating obstacles and trying to create difficulties for the residents living in various cooperative societies.

According to CDA’s own regulations, the Authority is supposed to regulate the construction activity in the entire ICT, but till recently it paid little heed towards buildings being constructed in the rural areas or in the housing societies. After decades of inactivity, CDA now seems to be rising from its deep slumber, and it has now decided to regulate buildings and houses built in the private housing societies in the ICT, both on land acquired or not acquired by it. Meanwhile, according to sources, the federal government has decided to establish a full-fledged Building Control Authority to regulate ICT’s residential and commercial buildings.

It is high time that to take a cue from the pro-people housing policy announced by Mohammad Khan Junejo in 1985 for the citizens in the middle and lower income groups.

Recently, the government has introduced some taxes on the housing sector. To ease the housing situation, the taxes on small plot/houses need to be waived altogether. The government should also consider the possibility of encouraging the private sector to build small houses and provide those units to the people in lower income brackets on easy terms or installments.

Furthermore, the plot allotment system needs to be institutionalised, adopting a uniform policy for all citizens. No one should be allotted more than one residential plots. If the policy of allotting multiple plots to the elite continues it will strengthen the belief that the country is still oscillating between an oligarchy and kleptocracy.