ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority has moved to tighten its grip on Islamabad’s booming housing sector after mounting complaints of fraudulent plot sales, illegal transfers and unauthorised development across private housing societies. In a major regulatory step, the CDA board approved the formation of a high level committee to draft new rules aimed at controlling the transfer and sale of plots in the federal capital.
The decision was taken during a board meeting chaired by CDA Chairman Sohail Ashraf amid growing concerns over massive irregularities in private housing schemes. Officials said the proposed regulations will target excessive sale of plots, duplicate transactions, ownership disputes and illegal construction beyond approved layouts. The authority believes the absence of a central monitoring system has allowed large scale manipulation in the real estate sector.
According to CDA officials, around 160 housing schemes are operating in Islamabad, including nearly 99 unauthorised societies. Several of these projects have been accused of selling more plots than approved while allegedly converting land reserved for parks, schools, mosques and graveyards into residential and commercial units. Thousands of buyers are still waiting for possession despite paying full amounts for their plots.
Sources said the CDA board was informed that many private societies were conducting transfers through internal record systems without routing transactions through the authority. Officials warned that this unchecked practice caused major financial losses to CDA through unpaid transfer fees and regulatory charges while also increasing the risk of fraud and multiple ownership claims over the same property.
The upcoming regulations are expected to introduce mandatory registration of plot transfers with CDA, centralised ownership records, digitisation of transactions and strict reporting obligations for private housing societies. The framework will also strengthen oversight mechanisms to prevent unauthorised sale of plots and protect genuine buyers from litigation and financial exploitation.
Meanwhile, the CDA board also approved hiring government owned consultancy firms for the proposed cricket stadium project near Sector D 12 and the establishment of an Al Khidmat Markaz in F 6. In another key move, the authority approved the formation of a committee to draft penal rent regulations aimed at discouraging encroachments on state land across Islamabad.
