Buying or selling property in Pakistan without being there.
For overseas Pakistanis investing in a plot or house, selling a family property, or renting one out — and who want the checks done before the money moves.
Short answer. Before an overseas buyer pays anything, the seller’s title should be checked in the revenue or registry record and the housing society or development authority file, the scheme’s approval status confirmed, and litigation, loans and dues ruled out. Payment should move through a traceable banking channel such as a Roshan Digital Account, and the transfer should be completed by an attorney acting under a special power of attorney limited to that one property.
Reviewed by Khalil Ahmad Bhullah, Founding Partner · Last reviewed 22 September 2026 · Pakistani law only
The checks before you pay.
Each of these has stopped a bad purchase for a client abroad.
Title chain
Registry deed and mutation history for at least the last two transfers, matched against the current fard or Arazi Record Centre print. Gaps in the chain are where fraud hides.
Scheme and plot approval
Development authority approval of the society or scheme, the specific phase or block, and the plot’s status in the society’s own file. Transfer fees and dues cleared.
Litigation and charges
Pending suits, stay orders, bank mortgages and inheritance disputes affecting the property or the seller. A plot under injunction can be sold on paper but not transferred.
The seller is the owner
Identity and biometric verification at registration, and a check that any power of attorney the seller relies on is genuine, current and covers this sale.
Possession on the ground
Someone must see the plot or house. Demarcation for land, occupation status for buildings. Paper title with someone else in possession is a lawsuit, not a purchase.
Agreement to sell
A written bayana agreement with the price, payment schedule through banks, refund terms and a completion date, before any token money is paid.
Selling, renting and managing from abroad.
Sell through a special power of attorney
Name the property, the minimum price and, where possible, the buyer. Require payment into your own account. Do not hand original title documents to a relative to “show buyers”.
Taxes are calculated at transfer
Advance tax on the seller and buyer, stamp duty and capital value tax are collected when the transfer is registered. Filer status changes the rates. We confirm the numbers before the buyer is committed.
Rent it out on paper
A written tenancy, registered with the police under Punjab’s temporary residents law, and rent paid by bank transfer. It is what makes ejectment quick if the tenant stops paying.
Questions buyers and sellers abroad ask.
Check with the relevant development authority. In Lahore, the Lahore Development Authority publishes the status of private housing schemes, including those it considers illegal or unapproved. Approval of the scheme, of the specific block, and of the plot in the society’s own record are three separate checks.
Roshan Digital Accounts, introduced by the State Bank of Pakistan for non-resident Pakistanis, can be used for property investment in Pakistan. Paying through a bank channel gives you a record that matters for tax and for any later dispute. Never pay cash to a dealer or a relative on a verbal promise.
Advance tax on the seller and on the buyer under the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, provincial stamp duty and capital value tax, and registration and society transfer fees. Rates change with each Finance Act and depend on filer status. We confirm the figures for your transaction before you commit.
Yes, through an attorney under a special power of attorney that names the property, the minimum price and the buyer, and requires the price to be paid into your own account. We check the buyer’s payment before the transfer is signed.