Overview
- The federal cabinet approved the National Housing Policy 2026, ending a roughly 25‑year lapse since the last national housing policy was issued in 2001.
- The policy places affordable, adequate and sustainable housing at its centre and aims to improve access to homes, basic public facilities and supporting infrastructure.
- Officials say the document is organized around nine thematic areas that cover land for housing, housing finance, construction services, building technology and materials, development of intermediate towns, slums and katchi abadis, low‑income and rural housing, and capacity building and knowledge sharing.
- Housing Minister Riaz Hussain Pirzada described the cabinet’s approval as an important milestone and said stakeholders’ recommendations were incorporated, but the government has not yet published detailed implementation timelines, funding plans or specific agency actions.
- The policy could change how cities grow by shifting planning from isolated local responses to coordinated national guidance, but its impact will depend on forthcoming steps on financing, provincial coordination and enforcement in ongoing urban disputes such as notices to Bahria Town residents.