Residents of cantonment boards including in Rawalpindi cantonment have been served final notices to get their commercial and residential properties regularised.
The notice has asked leaseholders to regularise properties by December 31, otherwise, their lease would stand cancelled.
The notices have been served to renew the lease before the expiry of the five-year policy — from 2017 to 2021 — extendable for 99 year regular lease for properties under Old Grant Residential and Commercial Building.
The Military Lands and Cantonments (ML&C) prepared the old grants lease policy in 2007 while allowing the people to establish their legal ownership of property, through regularisation, before December 31, 2012.
Under the Old Grant Allotment, the cantonment boards have received only 15 to 20 per cent success for regularisation of properties.
In 1996, the federal government converted the old grant lease into a permanent lease. The cantonment board allowed the people to raise buildings and, recovered millions of rupees in taxes.
The allottees had earlier been warned to regularise their residential and commercial properties, however, it did not yield results because of high rates demanded by the cantonment authorities for conversion of old grant lease properties.
Under the lease offer, the five marla residential properties will have to pay a Rs100 token fees premium including current development charges and two square feet ground rent for lease.
The residential land of over five kanals or more will be charged a 20 per cent premium of deputy commissioner rate, development charges and ground rent.
The ground residential to a commercial lease will cost 50 per cent premium of the deputy commercial rate, Rs4 per sq ft ground rent while commercial to commercial regular lease will be charged 40 per cent premium of the deputy commissioner rate and the same ground rent.
The illegal use of the residential property to a commercial lease will be charged a 100 per cent premium of deputy commissioner rate, including other charges.
The allottees of old grant properties said they have been living in those properties before the creation of Pakistan.
The allottees said that a heavy premium was being charged for the regular lease which they cannot afford.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 19th, 2021.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ