KARACHI: Pakistan’s builders and developers breathed a sigh of life on Thursday following reports that Karachi would soon see investments worth Rs1.5 trillion in its housing sector after the country’s apex court lifted a ban on the construction of high-rise buildings in the port city.
In March last year, the Supreme Court had issued a ban against the construction of high-rise buildings in Karachi due to the non-availability of water. However, the apex court on Tuesday retracted its decision, thereby making it once again legal to construct skyscrapers in the megacity.
According to the Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD), the restrictions had stalled work on 500 projects, freezing investments worth Rs600 billion.
“The work on 500 plots will start as soon as the authorities give us the go ahead. We expect that within six months we will be able to mobilize Rs600 billion in the housing sector and will see the full impact of investment,” Muhammad Hassan Bakshi, chairman of ABAD, told Arab News on Thursday.
“Our raw material is plots which are ready and within a year we will be able to start work on another 500 projects worth Rs1.2 trillion,” he added.
Pakistan is currently facing a shortage of 10 to 12 million housing units in the country as per varying estimates, including those filed by the World Bank which state that the country needs up to 700,000 units per year to cater to its growing population. “The ban had sent negative signals to the investors both local and foreign,” Bakshi said, adding that the “price of accommodation had increased by 20 to 25 percent”.
ABAD said it expects a 20 percent price correction will be made once the supply of housing units resumes.
There are currently 40-50 allied industries associated with the construction and real estate sector, most of which are small and medium enterprises. “The construction sector contributed around 2.8 percent to the GDP during FY18. With over 50 industries indirectly associated with the real estate construction sector, the overall economic impact is much higher,” a report by Karandaaz Pakistan, a development finance company, stated.
“The economic activity spurred by the construction will directly or indirectly benefit around 400,000 people including steel, cement, crush providers, labors etc,” Bakshi said.
Commenting on the shortage of water – the main reason for the top court to issue the ban in the first place — Bakshi said: “We would need water after three to four years which is the project life period. We expect that by then major water projects including K-4 and RO plants would be ready to supply water and there would be no problem.”
With an aim to attract more investments to the country, Prime Minister Imran Khan promised to build 5 million houses in five years, with the estimated cost of the project amounting to Rs15 to 17 trillion.
Bakshi, who is also the member of the task force set by the prime minister for the housing sector, said that work on the regulatory framework — including legislation, financials, and foreclosure laws — is in progress.
Real estate developers and builders, on their part, urged the government to introduce measures which would ensure ease of doing business so that the private sector could help them realize the dream of constructing five million houses at the earliest. “We want a fast track approval of projects, clear title of land, financing for builders, financing for buyers, and improvement of infrastructure,” Bakshi said.
Builders also hoped that overseas Pakistanis would step forward to contribute toward the vision too. “Yes, foreign investors were waiting for the right opportunity to invest in the country. Every expat Pakistani wants to have his or her house back in the home country,” Hanif Gohar, former chairman of ABAD, told Arab News.
Bakshi added that a part of the home remittances sent by Pakistanis is being invested in the real estate sector. “Around $8 billion worth of activity goes in the real estate sector every year, according to THE ministry of Housing and Works,” he said.
Sky is the limit for Karachi after SC lifts ban on high-rise buildings
Sky is the limit for Karachi after SC lifts ban on high-rise buildings
- Pakistan’s real estate sector to be pumped with Rs1.2tr investments
- Work on 500 projects worth Rs600bn to start in six months following apex court’s decision
Pakistan’s Mahnoor Omer named among TIME’s ‘Women of the Year’ for 2026
- Omer moved a Pakistani court against the so-called ‘period tax’ in Sept. 2025 which has since sparked a national debate
- Taxes on sanitary pads in Pakistan can add up to 40 percent to retail price, UNICEF says only around 12 percent women use such products
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani women’s rights activist Mahnoor Omer, who fought against taxes on menstrual products, has been named among the TIME magazine’s ‘Women of the Year’ for 2026.
Omer’s efforts have been recognized alongside 16 activists, artists, athletes and businesswomen in the TIME’s Women of the Year 2026 list, including Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Chloe Zhao.
Dissatisfied with the efforts to educate Pakistani girls about sexual violence, Omer founded the Noor Foundation at the age of 14 and held her own workshops with village girls about everything from climate change to menstruation, according to the TIME magazine.
Two years later, a conversation with a domestic worker about the price of pads made her realize that not everyone could afford these essentials. She moved a court against the so-called “period tax” in Sept. 2025 and the case has sparked a national debate on the subject, considered a taboo by many in Pakistan, since its first hearing late last year.
“A decade and one law degree after her interest in activism was sparked, Omer, now 25, is putting her passion and expertise to work in the name of gender equity,” TIME wrote about Omer on its website.
Taxes imposed on sanitary products in Pakistan can add up to 40 percent to the retail price. UNICEF estimates just 12 percent of women in the country use commercially produced pads or tampons. The alternative, using cloth, risks health impacts including rashes and infections, and can make it impossible for girls to attend school while menstruating.
Omer’s suit, which awaits the government response, has sparked a national discussion. She says she spoke about menstruation to her father and male cousins, who thanked her for standing up for their daughters.
The 25-year-old, who is currently enrolled in a master’s degree in gender, peace, and security at the London School of Economics, sees this case as just the first of many.
“I’m not free until every woman is free,” she was quoted as saying by TIME. “I want to leave no stones unturned in terms of what I can do with the next few decades, as a lawyer for the women in my country and gender minorities in general.”
