Almost every property page in Lahore puts the word “approved” in its title, and almost none of them say approved by whom, for what, or under which instrument. Those three questions are the whole of the matter.
Who approves what
Different bodies approve different things, and a document from one is not a substitute for a document from another.
- A development authority — in Lahore, the LDA — approves housing schemes within its controlled area, and publishes a list of the schemes it has approved. When a project says “LDA approved,” that list is where the claim is tested.
- A Tehsil Municipal Administration approves building plans within its jurisdiction. This is local government, and it is the right authority for a great many buildings. It is a real approval; it is simply not the same document as a scheme approval.
- Utility and service bodies issue their own clearances. None of them approves the legality of a subdivision or a building.
The point is not that one is good and another bad. It is that the authority must match the thing being approved, and the project must be within that authority’s jurisdiction.
The three questions to ask about any approval
- Which authority, by name? If the answer is vague, or the word “government” is doing the work, stop there.
- What is the reference number, and can I see the letter? Ask for a clean scan of every page, including the reverse of anything stamped. A photograph of a photograph is not a document.
- What exactly is approved? This is the one people skip. An approval for a different plot, a different height, or fewer storeys than what is being built is a genuine document used dishonestly, and it is common.
Doing the check yourself
Take the reference number to the authority’s office. Not the developer’s office — the authority’s. Do not bring the developer’s representative with you, and do not accept an offer to “arrange the meeting”. A genuine approval survives you turning up alone; that is the entire value of it.
Where the authority publishes a list online, search it yourself. And search the right list — a building approved by a TMA will not appear on a development authority’s schedule of approved schemes, and its absence there means nothing.
Words that mean not approved
- “Approval in process”
- “Applied for”
- “Approval expected shortly”
- “Approved in principle”
- “Documentation under way”
All five mean the same thing, which is no. A scheme without a valid approval is not permitted to advertise or sell in the first place, so a project using these phrases in its marketing is telling you something about itself in the same breath.
Where Central Point stands
Our approval is held with the Tehsil Municipal Administration, and we say so in those words rather than reaching for the phrase buyers search for. We also tell readers plainly that searching the LDA approved-schemes list for our name will find nothing, and why that is not a red flag.
The reference, the date and the scan are on the approval page, published as they become available, with the gaps marked as gaps.