PM Apna Ghar Scheme now open for Overseas Pakistanis

LAHORE: The federal government has expanded the benefits of the Prime Minister’s Apna Ghar housing finance program by extending identical benefits to overseas Pakistanis, a major move towards expanding access to affordable housing.

The Cabinet Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) approved the motion during a meeting that Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb chaired at the Finance Division.

The ECC supported an updated framework during the session to help scale up the outreach and effectiveness of the program. The government uses its new framework to improve housing finance through institutional lending methods and public-private partnerships and by including non-banking financial institutions.

The formal inclusion of overseas Pakistanis will bring in more investments, which will help the program reach its housing targets. Officials pointed out that the expansion is aimed at enhancing access to financing as well as the speed at which the national housing targets are achieved.

The initiative will better tackle the long-standing housing shortage in Pakistan because it will engage more stakeholders. The Apna Ghar Program, otherwise known as Ghar Ho Tu Apna, is a government-supported scheme that enables eligible citizens to construct or buy homes at low interest rates with subsidized rates.

The financing program provides applicants with up to Rs10 million to acquire a house or flat or to buy a plot and build or construct a house on their existing land.

The applicants need to be Pakistani citizens who possess a valid CNIC, and they must be first-time home buyers. They should not have previously benefited from any other housing finance scheme.