Over the years, land has become a very valuable commodity in Pakistan. Since our independence, Pakistan has been relying on outdated and manual modes of maintaining land ownership records.
This situation is prevalent in both rural and urban areas of the country, and poses multiple challenges. In a revolutionary step, it has been reported that the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA), and Lahore Development Authority (LDA) are thinking about digitalizing land records.
During the past decade or so, both Rawalpindi and Lahore have witnessed rapid expansion, and we have seen a mushroom growth of housing and other real estate projects in the suburbs of these cities.
This has further complicated the situation and created more challenges, especially when it comes to determining legitimate land ownership. There are many other formalities that become difficult to execute, such as change of land ownership title, due to sale or inheritance.
In this post, we not only appreciate this revolutionary initiative, but would also like to share the benefits of this step in the right direction:
Legitimacy of Land Ownership
With exorbitant increase in the prices of land across Pakistan, we are witnessing a record number of cases related to determining the legitimate ownership of land. As the current land ownership system relies on the British era “Patwar Khana System”, it is quite susceptible to forgery and preparation of fake documents.
This poses a lot of challenges for even legitimate land owners, who have to fight court cases for years on end, just to prove that they are the rightful owners of a piece of land. This in turn also burdens our already over-stretched judicial system, where most land ownership disputes ultimately end up for resolution.
Procurement of Land
Whether it is some Government project, such as a road, hospital or park etc., or a commercial project, there are severe challenges in determining correct and reliable land ownership, due to manual records. At times, there are multiple claimants for the same piece of land, and till the ownership issues get resolved, the project faces unforeseen delays, often escalating the initially project costs many times over.
Forgery and Fraud
Hand made land ownership documents are highly prone to forgery or fraud. Getting these documents verified from a competent authority is also time taking, and consumes a lot of un-wanted resources. Still, there are doubts in the mind of the person who is paying for the piece of land, that there could be disputes on the land ownership, even at later stages. This adversely impacts investor confidence, which is key to a vibrant real estate market.
Inheritance Related Matters
In the case of a land owner’s death, the land needs to be distributed among the legal heirs of the deceased. This becomes a very painstaking process, as all the record is currently being maintained manually. Digitalization can really make this process streamlined, as land would automatically get transferred among the legal heirs, as per the ratios outlined in the “Shariah”.
Conclusion
RDA and LDA are taking a revolutionary step to digitalize land ownership records. This is a great initiative, which will really simplify and streamline land records, and create a lot of ease for not only the Government, but the public at large as well.
For highly professional real estate advice, feel free to contact Brick Marketing & Developers (Pvt.) Ltd., and one of our advisors would be glad to assist.