Description

The local administration has commenced a survey to detect those private housing societies that are working without obtaining a No Objection Certificate (NOC) in the federal capital.

According to the recent details, the Revenue and Field Officers are given the responsibility to review the record and formulate a fresh list of the private housing societies that are operating illegally without getting approval from the relevant authorities.

The civic authority, in July last year, found 140 private and cooperative housing schemes in the federal capital territory as unauthorized and illegal, and they did not have approval because of the non-submission of layout plans and NOC.

The 2-tier permission for private housing schemes is given which includes the issuance of NOC along with approval after submission of the layout plan. The registration process comprises 19 major steps and 29 intermediate steps. It takes almost two-and-a-half years for the NOC to be sanctioned by the civic agency. When the NOC is approved, the development work can take as much as two decades to conclude.

Moreover, the government has not started any new housing scheme in the last many decades which is the reason the private sector was encouraged to enter the housing market to handle the rising housing demand in Islamabad.

According to an official, when this list would be completed, the unauthorized housing societies would be immediately directed to stop development work to evade legal action. “We will not allow illegal housing societies to carry out development work because they cannot do it without obtaining NOC from the district administration,” he added. He further stated “We have already developed a mechanism that helps the people review the legal status of the housing society before buying any plot or property. Now the new survey is also part of the efforts aiming at ensuring the protection of investment in the private housing societies.”