How to buy a plot in Pakistan without being cheated

Two plots both sold as “5 marla” can differ by hundreds of square feet. The seller’s price is also only part of what you will pay. Settle the size and the cost first, because it is difficult to correct either one after you have paid.

The marla is not one size

The kanal is always 20 marla. What varies is how many square feet a marla contains. Punjab’s revenue records count 1 marla as 9 sarsai, and 1 sarsai as 30.25 sq ft, so 1 marla is 272.25 sq ft and 1 kanal is 5,445 sq ft. Eight kanal is then 43,560 sq ft, exactly one acre, which is a handy check. Some housing schemes use a smaller marla of 225 sq ft (so a kanal is 4,500 sq ft). Neither is a mistake. They are different definitions, and the scheme or the authority decides which applies to your plot.

1. 1

   Ask which definition applies, in writing

   Ask the scheme office or the authority, not the dealer. Put it in the agreement: “the plot measures X feet by Y feet, total Z sq ft.”

2. 2

   Get the dimensions in feet

   Width and depth of the plot, and for an odd shape, every side and the angle or diagonal, so the area can be calculated.

3. 3

   Multiply to get the area, and check it against the file

   Compare your area with the area on the allotment letter and the map. If they do not agree, ask why before going any further.

4. 4

   Compare plots by price per square foot

   Price ÷ area in square feet. Marla prices between areas are not comparable unless the marla is the same size.

The price on the agreement is not your total cost

Your first question about a plot is which of these it is. The paperwork, the person who can verify it, and the typical ways it goes wrong are different for each.

Also check the land use. A plot must be classified as residential to build a house on it. Agricultural land cannot be built on until its use is formally changed, and a plot in a commercial strip has different rules.

Dealers and sellers will hand you papers. The papers are not the proof; the record held by the office that issued them is. Every document must be confirmed at the source, in person or through the office’s official channel, with you asking the question yourself.

1. 1

   Identify the seller

   Meet the seller in person. Check the original CNIC against the name on the ownership papers, exactly, including the father’s or husband’s name. A different name or an unexplained “attorney” is a reason to stop.

   • If someone else is selling on the owner’s behalf, see the chapter on powers of attorney and heirs.
   • Seller must be the owner of record, not someone who “has the file”.
2. 2

   Collect copies of every document

   Ask for copies of the allotment or deed, the ownership record, the transfer history and the latest tax and dues receipts. Do not accept “I will show them when you pay”. Take copies away and check them.

3. 3

   Check the ownership record at the source

   For revenue land, obtain a fresh copy of the fard or the jamabandi from the land records office. Compare it with the seller’s copy: names, shares, area and khasra numbers. For a scheme plot, ask the scheme office to confirm in writing that the plot exists, its number and size, and who owns it now.

4. 4

   Trace the chain of title

   Follow the ownership back, transfer by transfer, to the original allotment or earlier sale. Every link needs a document. A gap, or a transfer that cannot be explained, is a risk. Ask your lawyer how far back to go.

5. 5

   Check for anything attached to the plot

   Ask whether the plot is mortgaged, subject to a bank lien, in a court case, under a stay order, or blocked by the scheme. Ask the scheme office, the land records office and your lawyer to check these. Ask neighbours too: they often know about disputes that records do not show.

6. 6

   Confirm the approval status of the scheme

   Check with the development authority that the scheme is approved, that the plot is within the approved layout, and that the layout has the roads and open spaces on the plan. A plot that is in the scheme’s sales brochure but not in the approved layout may not be a plot at all.

7. 7

   Confirm the land use and the building rules

   Check the use (residential, commercial) and the rules that apply: covered area, setbacks, number of floors. This is the information your architect will use. See the house map approval guide.

8. 8

   Check dues are paid

   Ask for a no-demand certificate from the scheme or authority, meaning nothing is owed on the plot. Unpaid development charges, instalments or taxes pass to the new owner.

9. 9

   Check with your lawyer, who reads everything

   Give your lawyer the full set. Their fee is a small share of the plot price, and they find what a buyer without legal training misses.

Most serious property frauds depend on a seller who is not the full owner. These are the three situations to watch for.

Inherited land

When an owner dies, the land passes to all legal heirs in their legal shares, including daughters and widows. If one heir sells without the others, you may end up owning a share of the land, in dispute, rather than a plot. Ask for the inheritance record (the mutation or succession certificate), identify every heir, and make sure each one signs or has given a proper authority.

Power of attorney

A power of attorney lets someone else sign for the owner. It is also the tool most used in forged sales. Verify it at source:

• Confirm the attorney’s authority covers a sale of this plot specifically, and has not been cancelled.
• Verify the power of attorney with the office where it was registered or attested.
• Speak to the owner directly, by video if they are abroad, and confirm they are selling.
• For an owner abroad, the document should be attested by the Pakistani embassy or consulate or by a notary with the proper legalisation. Ask your lawyer to check it.
• Be cautious if the attorney is selling a plot well below market value, or in a hurry.

Companies, societies and developers

When the seller is a company or developer, ask for proof that it owns the land, that the person signing is authorised, and that the scheme is approved. For a plot sold by a developer from stock, check that the plot is not already sold to someone else.

Papers describe the plot, but only a visit shows what is actually there. Go in daylight, with the site plan and the plot number, and ideally go more than once, including after rain.

1. 1

   Find the plot on the ground

   Use the plot number and the site plan to identify it, with the scheme’s marker pillars. Ask the scheme’s office to demarcate it, with boundary pillars, in your presence.

2. 2

   Walk the boundary and measure

   Measure each side with a tape and compare with the plan. Look for encroachments: a neighbour’s wall or building on the plot, or a plot that is a different shape from the map.

3. 3

   Ask who is in possession

   The plot should be vacant. Someone living or farming on it, a shed, or stored goods mean you must find out why before paying.

4. 4

   Talk to the neighbours

   Ask about the plot’s history, disputes, who has been seen on it and what the street floods like in rain. They know things the records do not.

5. 5

   Look at the access and the surroundings

   Is there a made road to the plot? What is its width? Is the plot on the corner, and how does the road meet it? What is nearby: a nullah, a rail line, a high-tension line, a factory, a graveyard or a dump?

6. 6

   Look at the ground

   Note the level compared to the road. A plot below road level will flood and need fill. Ask whether the ground is filled with rubble or rubbish, which needs deep foundations. Find out what the soil is like from neighbouring excavations.

7. 7

   Check the services

   Find out where electricity, water, gas and sewerage are available, how far away, and who connects them. Ask for the scheme’s statement on when services will reach the plot.

8. 8

   Take dated photographs

   Photograph the plot from each corner, the road and the neighbours’ buildings, with the date visible. They are your record of the plot’s condition when you bought it.

The safest sale is one where the money is released at the same time as the ownership. That means paying in stages, each stage tied to a document that moves the ownership one step toward you.

The sequence

1. 1

   Agree the price and sign a written agreement to sell

   The agreement names the buyer and seller, the plot (number, scheme, block, area in feet), the price, the amount paid as earnest money, the dates for the next payments and the transfer, and what happens if either side backs out. Your lawyer drafts or reviews it.

2. 2

   Pay a small earnest money (token) by bank transfer

   Pay the token to the seller’s own account, by bank transfer or pay order, and keep the receipt. Never pay in cash. Banking channels give you a record, and the tax rules for property expect them. Ask your lawyer about the limits.

3. 3

   Finish all verification

   Do the checks in this guide during the agreement period, with the right to cancel and recover the token if the papers do not check out.

4. 4

   Settle dues and obtain the transfer documents

   The seller clears any dues, and gets the no-demand certificate and the transfer documents from the society or authority.

5. 5

   Register the sale deed

   The deed is executed and registered at the sub-registrar’s office, with the buyer and the seller present, and the stamp duty and taxes paid. For many land offices, identities are verified there with biometrics.

6. 6

   Pay the balance at the registrar, against the registered deed

   Make the balance payment by bank transfer or pay order at the time of registration, not before. Do not hand the full price before the deed is registered.

7. 7

   Get the ownership record updated

   Make sure the sale is entered in the revenue record (the mutation, or intiqal, for revenue land) or in the society’s or authority’s records, so that the record shows you as the owner. Obtain the fresh record, in your name.

8. 8

   Take possession

   Take possession of the plot, with the keys or the boundary demarcation, and get a possession letter if the scheme issues one.

A vacant plot can be encroached on, sold again by a fraudster or taken by a neighbour in a matter of months, particularly if you are abroad. The weeks after the purchase are the time to secure it.

The next steps are getting the house map approved and, in parallel, working out what the house will cost. If you are buying from outside Pakistan, read building from abroad before you pay.