National Housing Policy 2026: what the ministry's document says about plots, housing schemes and finance

The Ministry of Housing and Works has a National Housing Policy 2026 on its website, a 100-page PDF whose cover is dated 25 August 2026. The PDF gives no approval date and does not say whether it is approved. Its consultation section refers to a “refined and final draft” (printed page 5, PDF page 11). APP and ARY reported on 11 August that the policy was approved, and ARY said the federal cabinet approved it and called the version on the ministry’s website a draft. We cannot confirm that the 25 August text matches the approved one. This article covers selected sections only. We have not read the action plan with its timelines or most of the other themes.

Page references give the printed page, then the PDF page. The policy says Pakistan’s first national housing policy “was formulated in 2001” and “remained in vogue for the last 24 years till the beginning of 2025” (printed 1, PDF 7). After the 18th Amendment, it says, “housing has become a provincial subject” (printed 1, PDF 7). It says “The provincial housing departments, city development authorities, and local government departments, in collaboration with the federal Ministry of Housing & Works, are entrusted with implementing the housing policy” (printed 50, PDF 56). Its measures use “should” and “must”. The chapters present them as suggested policy measures. The contents page lists the action plan and Annex III under “National Housing Policy 2025” (PDF 4). The action plan heading in the body (printed 51, PDF 57) says 2026.

What it proposes

The goal is to “Ensure access to climate-resilient, adequate, affordable, and sustainable housing, particularly for low- and middle- income groups” (printed 7, PDF 13). Its first objective cites “the existing cumulative housing deficit of 10-13 million housing units” (printed 7, PDF 13). The executive summary says “The policy proposes establishing a National Housing Council” (printed v, PDF 6). It says “An independent Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) should be established at the federal and provincial levels” (printed 50, PDF 56), and calls it “the proposed Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA)” (printed 44, PDF 50).

Plots and housing schemes

• Idle plots (section 3.1.4, printed 11, PDF 17). The document says regulators “should devise well-defined rules and regulations to penalise plot owners in housing schemes who fail to build within the stipulated construction period”, and that developers who cannot develop within the stipulated timeframe “must be severely penalised”. It proposes “substantial non-utilisation charges after a certain period, i.e., three or five years”, and says taxes that “could help” include progressive annual taxes on property and vacant plots, a capital gains tax and a betterment levy.
• Malpractice (section 3.7.4, printed 44, PDF 50). The PDF lists six: “Launch and marketing of fraudulent and illegal housing schemes with unclear land titles”; down payments and installments for sold plots misappropriated by scheme owners or by the management committees of cooperative housing societies; “Selling more plots than are planned in the layout plan (LOP)”; “The sale of a single plot to multiple persons”; “Ambiguity in the authenticity of the approved layout plans of housing schemes available with the real estate agents”; and “Sale of or encroachment on the amenity plots reserved for public welfare, such as parks, schools, hospitals and community facilities”.
• Proposed measures (printed 45, PDF 51). Approved layout plans “should incorporate QR/Bar codes for authenticity” and “must be accessible on official websites”. Regulatory authorities “must issue QR/Bar-coded allotment letters”, and the number of letters “must be in accordance with the number of plots shown in the approved Layout Plans (LOPs)”. “A third-party-supervised ESCROW account must be made compulsory for every housing project before approval and before any funds are collected from the general public.” “Violations of amenity plots must be declared a criminal offence with explicit penal provisions.”

Housing finance

Section 3.3.2 (printed 17 and 18, PDF 23 and 24) is introduced as measures that “are suggested”. It proposes “Fixed-term loans of 10, 20, and 30 years for long-term affordability”, and to “Reintroduce mark-up subsidies for low-cost and affordable housing, targeted strictly at verified low-income households through a credible database”.

For banks, it proposes: “Require banks to allocate at least 10% of their private sector credit portfolio to housing and construction” (printed 18, PDF 24). The PDF does not say which banks are covered or how it would be enforced. Its action plan row (printed 56, PDF 62) names the State Bank of Pakistan, the Finance Ministry, the Law Ministry and the Ministry of Housing & Works for “Approval of a policy requiring banks to allocate at least 10% of their private sector credit portfolio to housing and construction”, with the timeline “1 - 2 year after approval of the policy”.

What is not settled

The PDF gives no approval date, and its action plan timelines run from “approval of the policy”. We have read only the action plan rows cited above, and we did not find any notification that turns these proposals into rules.

What readers can check

Anyone buying a plot may wish to ask the society in writing for its layout plan approval, and to check the rules their province or authority has actually notified. For Punjab, the amended private housing scheme rules are covered in our article on the 1 July 2026 gazette notification.