ISLAMABAD: The federal government raised the housing rent cap for all of its workers in six major cities, ranging from grade 1 to grade 22, by 45 percent. The federal capital saw the largest increase.
The Ministry of Housing and Works has announced that in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, and Peshawar, the higher rental cap will be in effect for the hiring of residential accommodations for employees and officers of federal ministries, divisions, attached departments, and subordinate offices.
The rental ceiling for grade 22 personnel has been raised under the revised rates from the previous rate of Rs98,444 and Rs89,230 per month, respectively, to Rs142,743 per month for Islamabad and Rs125,989 per month for all other cities (the four provincial capitals and Rawalpindi).
For grade 21 government employees, the monthly house rent fee has raised from Rs82,261 to Rs119,278 in Islamabad and from Rs71,107 to Rs98,378 in other cities.
Similarly, the monthly rental cap for grade 20 has been increased to Rs99,615 for Islamabad, from Rs68,700, and to Rs82,696 for other cities, from Rs59,079 previously.
From their current rates of Rs54,704 and Rs46,816 per month, Grade-19 officers would be entitled to Rs79,320 and Rs65,542 per month for Islamabad and other cities, respectively.
In the meantime, the rental cap for grades 17 and 18 has been raised from Rs41,147 and Rs35,898 to Rs59,669 for Islamabad and Rs49,808 for other cities.
The new rental rates for grade 14–16 personnel in Islamabad are Rs45,073 per month, while the rates in other cities are Rs37,665 per month. The current rates are Rs31,085 and Rs27,134 per month, respectively.
In place of their current rates of Rs24,744 and Rs21,462 per month, Grade 11–13 officials would be permitted to earn up to Rs35,878 per month in Islamabad and Rs30,815 per month in other cities.
The maximum monthly rental amount for employees in grades 7 through 10 has also been raised from Rs16,403 to Rs14,682 for Islamabad and other cities, respectively, to Rs23,784 and Rs20,112 correspondingly.
Instead of the former rates of Rs10,980 and Rs9,654, personnel in grades 3 through 6 would now receive Rs15,921 and Rs13,230 per month in Islamabad and the other five cities.
From the current rates of Rs7,029 and Rs6,591 per month, respectively, the rental for grade 1 and 2 employees would henceforth be permitted at Rs10,192 per month in Islamabad and Rs9,590 per month in other cities.
According to an official, market surveys and the representations made by different groups of government employees were the foundation for notifying the altered rates.
All new hires would be subject to the higher rental rates, as would situations in which the allottee or renter is expected to pay the owner the difference in rent out of pocket.
“In such a situation, the rent may be raised to the revised rental ceiling set by the tenant, whichever is lower, or to the owner’s demand as stated at the time of hiring.”
The higher prices also apply to homes that government employees rent under the 2002 Accommodation Allocation Rules or the later decentralized system of house rent that was announced on July 31, 2004, and whose leases were about to expire.
In these situations, the current rental assessment, the occupant’s updated rental ceiling, or the owners’ demand—whichever is lower—would be the basis for the lease agreement to be signed with the owners.
