Housing rentals escalate as winter starts
Staff Report

ISLAMABAD—Housing rentals in twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad have boomed following the arrival of the inhabitants of the hilly areas to the twin cities as the weather turned chiller there.
According to the real estate firms, the housing rentals in twin cities are increasing by the day which may go up to 5-10 percent following the arrivers from the mountainous areas of Murree and others coming to spend winter in inhabitable atmosphere.
Though the housing rentals have not witnessed any decrease since last several years, particularly after the year 2005 earthquake that had far reaching effects on real estate.
The real estate agents are of the view that the root causes of the increase is that the government has made no alternative plans to bridge this demand-supply gap.
A real estate consultant in Markaz G-9 said that people particularly the bachelors are facing utmost difficulty to find a residence on rent. He said the minimum house rents in sectors G-9, G-10, G-8 and I-10-comparativey cheaper areas, is Rs15,000-20,000 that is beyond reach of middle class. Low density and lower middle-class areas such as Dhoke Kala Khan, Dhoke Kashmirian, Sadiqababd, Gulzar-e Quaid and Khaybane Sir Syed bear most of the pressure from the settlers, he said, adding that these areas usually witness the greatest kike in rentals.
He said that decrease in this regard is unlikely as, due to one or the other reason, the government plans to undo housing shortage in federal capital seem unable to deliver a lot. The development of sectors here launched even before a decade are still incomplete.
Mohammed Shaheen, a college lecturer criticized the Capital Development Authority, Ministry of Housing and Works and all of its linked departments for having no effective agenda to follow, in order to cope with the housing shortage. He said the ministry had initiated the project of condominium style housing in major cities for government servants but the project is running on the snail pace.
A housing consultant said the problem needs to be tackled in two ways- short term planning and long term planning. He said launching of mega projects is inevitable to encounter the shortage of millions of housing units across the country.
When contacted a CDA official said the Authority has planned theconstruction of condominium-styled housing units in Islamabad while 200 such units have already been constructed. He said the government is also inviting the private investors to invest in the construction sector to bridge the gap.