Punjab gazette amends private housing scheme rules: 15 days' notice before plot cancellation, fine tiers

According to a Punjab Gazette notification dated 1 July 2026, the amended Punjab Private Housing Schemes Rules 2022 have been in force since that date. The changes include notice before a plot allotment is cancelled, daily fines by scheme size and a five marla cap on residential plots in low-cost schemes. Press reports of 15 and 16 October describe the changes.

The notification is Notification 147 of 2026 in the Punjab Gazette (Extraordinary), which publishes Local Government and Community Development (LG&CD) Department notification No. SOR(LG)8-5/2022 of the same date. Made under section 189 of the Punjab Local Government Act 2025, it amends the rules “with immediate effect”, according to the notification. It has 20 numbered amendments. This article covers six of them.

As read on 16 October 2026. The gazette was read as scanned page images. Press reports are context only.

What the gazette says

• Cancelling an allotment (rule 32(2)(c)). An allotment “shall not be cancelled without prior notice of at least fifteen days”. The notice is issued through the Housing Society Management System developed by the Board of Revenue and also sent to the allottee by registered post, giving the reasons for cancellation.
• Unpaid installments (rule 32(2)(f)). If cancellation is due to non-payment of an installment of the price, the allottee must get at least two opportunities to pay, by notice through the same system and by registered post.
• Fines for illegal development (rule 28). This applies where a sponsor develops, or continues to develop, a scheme without the local government’s approval, or fails to develop within the stipulated period after approval. The local government “shall impose” a fine per day while the default continues: Rs5,000 for a scheme up to 300 kanal; Rs10,000 above 300 up to 500 kanal; Rs15,000 above 500 up to 1,000 kanal; Rs20,000 above 1,000 kanal. The notification adds that the maximum duration of the penalty is not more than the development period of that category of scheme.
• Low-cost schemes (rule 10). For low-cost schemes, a new clause says the size of a residential plot “shall not exceed five marla”.
• Utilities (rule 19(1)). The sponsor must ensure that water supply, sewerage, gas, electricity, telecommunication and internet cable lines are laid underground before roads are built. No cable, wire or pipe may be laid above ground level.
• Management committee (rule 38). After development works are complete, except for a cooperative society, a management committee is responsible for maintaining and managing the scheme. The local government constitutes it for three years. It has seven members: three nominated by the sponsor, and four community members nominated by the local government, who must be residents as well as owners. If sponsor representatives are not available, the head of the local government nominates an equal number of community members. The committee works on a no-profit, no-loss basis.

The press reports

Pakistan Observer (15 October) and Minute Mirror (16 October) report that the Punjab government approved amendments to the rules for private housing societies. They describe the system and registered-post notice, two opportunities for unpaid installments, a five marla cap, fines of Rs5,000 to Rs20,000 per day, underground utilities and a seven-member committee of four residents and three sponsor representatives. Neither mentions the 15 days, the fine tiers or who nominates the committee members. Neither names the rules amended or an effective date. We do not know whether they describe this notification or a further step. The News reported on 23 June that a cabinet committee had approved amendments to the 2022 rules, to take effect after gazette notification.

Both October reports also say that at least two notices must be issued before a plot is cancelled for unpaid development charges. We could not find that in the amendment text. The notification adds the same system-and-registered-post wording to the end of clause (g) of rule 32(2), but it does not say what that clause covers or how many notices it requires, so we do not state it as a rule.

What readers should check

The LG&CD page links the notification as “Amendments in the Punjab Private Housing Schemes Rules 2022, Dated 01.06.2026”. The document itself, the gazette and the notification, is dated 1 July 2026. This article uses the document’s date. Anyone who receives a cancellation or dues notice from a Punjab private housing society may wish to ask the society, in writing, which rule and which date it relies on, and whether the notice came through the Housing Society Management System. The local government concerned can say which rules apply to a scheme.