ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday visited the site of 4400 low-cost apartments being constructed in collaboration with CDA, Naya Pakistan Housing Authority, and FWO, in Farash Town in the outskirts of Islamabad under the Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme. The Prime Minister expressed his satisfaction over the pace of work on the site and said that no government in the past had paid heed to the miseries of the low-income segment of the society who could never afford a house of their own. The PM had performed the groundbreaking of the project earlier in April this year.
In a detailed briefing, the premier was informed about the progress of the construction work on a total of 70 Kanal of land. Out of a total of 4400 housing units, 2000 units are reserved for the low-income segment of the society registered under Naya Pakistan Housing, 2000 for the middle-income group and salaried class, and 400 for the residents of the slum. Mr. Khan said that the government has asked the banks to provide mortgages to the masses for Fast Loan Approvals For Houses to help them construct their own houses. He said that previously there was no concept of Mortgages in Pakistan.
Addressing a gathering on the site the PM told that the government is providing Rs 300000 as subsidy for each housing unit besides carrying out the construction work and providing loans at a very small mark up and a sum of Rs 30 billion has been allocated to serve the purpose. He said, “It is our effort that the people have to pay less every month, almost equivalent to what they pay for monthly rent,”. He pointed out that the government has offered up to 90 percent tax relief on the construction sector and despite the adverse effects of covid 19 across the world the housing and construction sector in Pakistan remained operational.
The Prime Minister also explained that the banks have received applications worth 226 billion out of which cases of around 90 billion have been approved and around 24 billion have been actually disbursed to the masses. He also highlighted that up till now 20000 housing units have been delivered to the low-income group, 100000 housing units are under construction and 307,000 units are in the evaluation process. He said that now the Naya Pakistan Housing Authority is fully functional to achieve its objectives and it took him two years to put things in the right order. He further added that the mark-up subsidy scheme of the government offers loans to the low-income group for twenty years on only 2 percent service charges, 5 percent mark-up to the middle-income group for 5- Marla house, and 7 percent for the 10- Marla house.
The present government under the visionary leadership of prime minister Imran Khan has been striving hard to boost up the housing and construction sector not only to provide shelter to the ones who don't own a house but also to gear up economic activities in the country. Successful implementation of policies and execution of development work under Naya Pakistan Housing and Construction Authority would pave the way towards an overall uplift of the most depressed and dejected segment of the society as envisaged in the vision of the Prime Minister.
