On July 27, 2026, a family had gathered to celebrate a birthday when their three-storey home in Lahore’s Harbanspura locality folded in on itself, one storey after another, killing 11 and injuring six. In an instant, the celebrations turned into panic and horror.

Less than a month earlier, on June 30, a residential building that also served as a tuition centre in Lahore’s Kahna town, had collapsed, killing 14 children. The youngest of them was five years old.

The fact that both incidents occurred in Lahore, within weeks of each other at the height of the monsoon rains, brings two basic questions into sharp focus: can the homes of low-income families withstand shocks and is Punjab’s housing policy, which is centred largely on new construction, doing enough for the fragile, rickety homes that vulnerable households call ghar [home]?

It is a cruel irony that the rains that bring relief from the summer heat can also threaten the very shelter meant to protect families. Heavy rainfall can weaken walls, bring down roofs and, in the worst cases, leave families searching through rubble for those they love.

This season, across Punjab, successive spells of rain between June 26 and September 22 have claimed 69 lives and injured another 392, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). Among those killed were 29 men, 12 women and 28 children. It is reported that 71 percent of these deaths — 49 people — have occurred due to houses collapsing. Some 104 houses have been destroyed and 122 partially damaged across Punjab.

During the 2025 floods, Punjab recorded the highest housing losses in the country, with 55,134 houses completely destroyed and another 157,963 partially damaged.

Against this backdrop, the Punjab government’s Apni Chhat Apna Ghar (literally: Own Roof, Own Home; ACAG) programme, its construction-loan design and ambitious claims are drawing scrutiny from housing experts and developers over whether the policy will ultimately translate into adequate, safer and accessible homes for those who need them most.

The collapse of homes during Punjab’s monsoon season has exposed how vulnerable low-income families are and raised questions about the province’s affordable housing policies. As the Punjab government expands housing construction programmes and loans, experts and developers question whether building homes is enough if issues such as structural safety, infrastructure and accessibility are not addressed

The collapse of homes during Punjab’s monsoon season has exposed how vulnerable low-income families are and raised questions about the province’s affordable housing policies. As the Punjab government expands housing construction programmes and loans, experts and developers question whether building homes is enough if issues such as structural safety, infrastructure and accessibility are not addressed

TACKLING THE HOUSING PROBLEM

Soon after the Kahna tragedy, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz launched the ‘Apni Chhat, Mahfooz Chhat’ [Own Roof, Secure Roof] programme in July. The director-general of the Punjab Housing and Town Planning Agency (PHATA), Sikandar Zeeshan, tells Eos that the programme offers interest-free loans of up to Rs500,000 for constructing additional rooms, repayable over nine years in monthly instalments of approximately Rs4,700; Rs500,000 for roof repairs, on the same repayment terms, while Rs1,000,000 is offered for constructing an additional floor, with monthly instalments of approximately Rs9,500.

The initiative is an extension of the Punjab government’s flagship ACAG programme, launched in August 2024, under which low-income households owning plots of up to five marlas in urban areas and 10 marlas [one marla is 272.25 square feet] in rural areas can obtain interest-free loans of up to Rs1.5 million to construct homes.

It requires applicants to provide a valid computerised national identity card (CNIC), own or occupy an eligible plot or house, have no criminal record and provide two non-family guarantors. Applicants also undergo a social appraisal before a loan is approved.

Zeeshan claims that the ACAG programme has revolutionised the whole ecosystem of house-building in Punjab, stating, “In merely two years, 200,000 families have benefitted and, by 2028, 300,000 will benefit from the programme. It may not solve the housing problem completely, but we are confident that no previous low-income housing programme has delivered as much as Apni Chhat Apna Ghar.”

In May 2026, Maryam Nawaz had echoed similar claims, by announcing that more than 100,000 houses had been completed under the ACAG programme, with another 600 to 700 houses being constructed each day.

But experts and developers are questioning the scale, design and the evidence base of the ACAG programme. They ask: was there a comprehensive, province-wide assessment of how many households needed housing assistance and what form that assistance should take? Will the assistance improve housing conditions and reach those most in need?

Jawad Aslam, founder and CEO of the Ansaar Management Company, a social-enterprise developer focused on affordable housing, says, “I find it difficult to believe that 100,000 affordable houses have actually been delivered. While some projects have certainly been completed, I have yet to see evidence of housing being delivered on anything close to the scale claimed publicly.”

On the ground, the picture is more complicated. While the people for whom the programme is intended are aware of the schemes, many still remain apprehensive about applying for the loans. Samina, a domestic helper, says, “For a person earning 40,000 rupees a month, repaying nearly 14,000 rupees a month in instalments is impossible.” Faisal, who works as a sports coach at an elite club, says, “These loans are approved for only those with jaan pehchaan [connections].” Clearly, scepticism remains widespread and, whether well-founded or not, may be a barrier to the very people the schemes are designed to reach.

Their doubts are rooted in a longer history of housing schemes that have failed to deliver on their promises.

Take for instance, the Ashiana Housing Scheme, launched in 2010 under the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government of then-Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif. It aimed to provide subsidised housing for low-income families, but it became embroiled in allegations of corruption and irregularities.

Then came the Naya Pakistan Housing Programme, launched by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government in 2019,........

© Dawn (Magazines)