Housing & Tenancy Rights
Tenancy, eviction, security deposits, qabza (illegal occupation), property registration, and housing societies — under provincial Rented Premises laws and the Transfer of Property Act 1882.
Covered in this guide:
- Registered Tenancy Agreement — Why It Matters
- Grounds and Procedure for Eviction
- Security Deposit and Refund
- Qabza — Recovering Illegally Occupied Property
- Property Sale Registration and Mutation
- Housing Society Disputes — DHA, Bahria, Cooperative Societies
- Inheritance of Property and Forced Heirship
- Katchi Abadis and Regularisation
Housing law in Pakistan is almost entirely provincial. The Transfer of Property Act 1882 stays federal and sits behind every sale, mortgage, and lease, but tenancy itself is governed by each province's Rented Premises law: Punjab Rented Premises Act 2009, Sindh Rented Premises Ordinance 1979, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rented Premises Act 2018, Balochistan Tenancy Ordinance 1959, and the federally administered ICT Rented Premises Ordinance 2001 for Islamabad.
The practical fact most people learn the hard way: oral tenancies are common in Pakistan, and they are unsafe. As tenant or landlord, get a written, registered tenancy agreement before anything else. After that, understand how qabza (illegal occupation) works in your area, because a surprising number of ordinary tenancy disputes end up there.
Key Laws
Transfer of Property Act 1882
Act IV of 1882 (federal)
Foundational law for sale, lease, mortgage, gift, and exchange of immovable property. Sections 105–117 govern leases; section 53A governs part performance; sections 54–55 govern sales.
Registration Act 1908
Act XVI of 1908 (federal)
Compulsory registration of leases over one year, sale deeds, gifts of immovable property, and mortgages. Unregistered documents are inadmissible to prove ownership.
Punjab Rented Premises Act 2009 / Sindh Rented Premises Ordinance 1979 / KP Rented Premises Act 2018 / ICT Rented Premises Ordinance 2001
Provincial
Tenancy law: registration of agreements, fair rent, grounds for eviction, security deposit limits, and Rent Tribunals/Controllers.
Punjab Land Revenue Act 1967 / Sindh Land Revenue Act 1967 / KP Land Revenue Act 1967
Provincial
Land records (jamabandi/fard), mutation, partition, and patwari/girdawar proceedings — the backbone of rural and most urban property records.
Specific Relief Act 1877
Act I of 1877 (federal)
Specific performance of sale agreements, injunctions against trespass, and recovery of possession suits — the toolkit for property-rights litigation.
Registered Tenancy Agreement — Why It Matters
A tenancy in Pakistan can be created orally, in writing, or by a stamped lease deed. The three look identical until something goes wrong, and then the gap between them turns brutal.Oral tenancy. Legal...
Grounds and Procedure for Eviction
A landlord cannot evict a tenant simply because the lease has expired. Every provincial Rented Premises Act lists the only grounds on which eviction is allowed, and the tenancy continues on a month-to...
Security Deposit and Refund
Security deposits — sometimes called "pugree" in older lease arrangements — are capped under each provincial Rented Premises Act. Punjab and KP cap them at two months' rent. Sindh's 1979 Ord...
Qabza — Recovering Illegally Occupied Property
Qabza is the everyday word for illegal occupation. A vacant plot quietly occupied by squatters. A property left to overseas Pakistanis taken over by relatives. An inherited share grabbed by one heir t...
Property Sale Registration and Mutation
Buying property in Pakistan is a two-step legal process — registration and mutation — and skipping either creates years of trouble later.Registration is at the Sub-Registrar of Assurances. The sale de...
Housing Society Disputes — DHA, Bahria, Cooperative Societies
Pakistan has thousands of housing societies, ranging from DHA (military-affiliated, statutory) to Bahria Town (private, contractual) to small cooperative societies registered under the 1925 Act. Dispu...
Inheritance of Property and Forced Heirship
Pakistani inheritance law works on faith-based lines for personal-status purposes, but property procedure is identical across communities: death certificate → succession certificate or wirasat namah →...
Katchi Abadis and Regularisation
Pakistan has hundreds of katchi abadis (informal settlements) — areas where families have lived for decades on what is technically government or katcha land, with no formal title. Each province has a...