LDA bylaws for private housing societies Part III: Approval

For any housing society, approval is undoubtedly one of the most important milestones. The recommendation to invest only in Lahore Development Authority (LDA) approved housing schemes is not without reason. They have to go through a lengthy process to secure their approval. Here’s what needs to be done for approval of a housing society by LDA.

After the planning is complete and layouts submitted, the sponsor of the housing society is required to submit an application to LDA. The authority will, then, provide its feedback to the sponsor within seven days.

If the application is complete, the land ownership documents are scrutinised. In this process:

1. The Director Metropolitan Planning sends the application to its revenue staff for scrutiny of ownership documents within seven days;
2. The revenue staff of LDA, with the assistance of the District Collector, shall within ten days, scrutinise the ownership documents;

• After the scrutiny, the revenue staff shall forward its report or objections to the Director Metropolitan Planning; and,

1. Director Metropolitan Planning shall, within five days, convey the objections to the sponsor for appropriate action.

Public Objections

After all the documents have been cleared, the sponsor is required to publish a public notice inviting objections on Form A. This need to be done in case of land sub-division schemes having area less than forty kanals. The notice should be published in at least one English and one Urdu newspaper and the costs will be borne by the sponsor.

The notice is to specify:

1. Location of the scheme
2. Total area of the scheme

• Name and address of the sponsor

1. List of khasra numbers along with revenue estate or mouza

The objections, if any, may be filed with the relevant authority mentioned in the notice, within fifteen days from the date of publication.

LDA, itself is to forward any objections, if received, to the sponsor. In case any objection is raised on the ownership of a portion of land included in the scheme, and both the sponsor and new claimant press for ownership on the basis of title documents, the LDA will exclude the disputed land from the scheme.

Technical scrutiny of layout plan

1. Director Metropolitan Planning will scrutinise the layout plan in accordance with the rules, and forward objections, if any, within ten days;
2. The Director can then ask the sponsor to provide:
3. A transparency layout plan indicating proposed plots to be mortgaged
4. A soft copy of layout plan geo-referenced with the coordinate system of Survey of Pakistan Plan

• A transfer deed in Form B, B1, and B2 for transferring to LDA, free of cost, the area reserved for roads, open spaces, etc.

1. A mortgage deed in Form C, C1, C2, mortgaging 20% of plots in Authority’s favour, as a security for completion of development work.

After all the requirements have been met;

1. The Director Metropolitan Planning can, within seven days, submit his/her recommendations to the Chief Metropolitan Planner;
2. The Director General can approve the layout plan or pass appropriate orders;

• The Director Metropolitan Planning can, within seven days of the receipt of the order of the Director General, brief the sponsor on the orders of the Director General.

Pre-requisites for sanctioning a housing scheme

After the abovementioned process, LDA will issue the letter of final approval of a scheme and release the layout plan within ten days from the date on which the sponsor fulfils the following requirements:

1. Deposit the approval fee;
2. Deposit the land use conversion fee;

• Deposit fee for a public notice

1. Execute transfer deed in favour of LDA
2. Deposit a performance bond in Form D and Form D1
3. Submit a No Objection Certificate from the Provincial Environment Protection Agency

• LDA has to ensure that the mortgage deed and transfer deed are executed by the sponsor of the scheme and incorporated in the revenue record

Sanction of private housing schemes

When all the above mentioned formalities have been completed, the authority can now issue a formal letter of sanction in Form E. When this is received by the sponsor, she/he can proceed with marketing and sale of the plots. However, the sponsor has to comply with the marketing requirements under any other law and not market or sell any mortgaged plots unless it is redeemed by LDA. These plots are released after the execution of a Redemption Deed.

Public Notice

LDA, on behalf of the sponsor, then issues a public notice in any of the two national dailies in Form F. In it, will be provided the details of the mortgaged plots and salient features of the sanctioned housing scheme. The notice will also be published on the official LDA website.

Following these, the said private housing scheme is considered legal under LDA’s jurisdiction. Any housing scheme that has passed through the process can be trusted to keep its promises, to a fair degree of certainty, so any investment you make there will be quite secure.