Karachi: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has directed banks participating in the Prime Minister’s Apna Ghar Scheme not to charge applicants any processing fee and to respond to loan applications within 15 days.
The directives were shared during a media briefing on housing finance by Ghulam Muhammad Abbasi, Executive Director of SBP’s Islamic Finance Group.
Abbasi said the central bank has also launched an online application portal to facilitate applicants, while a helpline to address issues related to housing finance will be launched soon.
Under the scheme, eligible applicants can obtain financing of up to Rs10 million to purchase a constructed house or apartment, purchase a plot, or construct a house on an owned plot. The financing is available for houses measuring up to 250 square yards and apartments of up to 1,500 square feet.
Applicants can repay the financing over a period of up to 20 years, with a fixed markup of 5% for the first 10 years.
Abbasi said salaried applicants can apply using their salary slips, while applicants working in shops or the informal sector, including freelancers, may use alternative documents such as bank statements, electricity bills and mobile top-up records for processing their applications.
The scheme also allows borrowers to repay their outstanding financing before maturity without incurring a prepayment penalty.
Samra Zulfiqar, a real estate analyst at Zameen.com, is passionate about finding projects that offer buyers the best returns. Her keen insights spotlight the market’s most promising opportunities.
