House Construction Cost in Pakistan: Rates Per Square Foot for Lahore and Islamabad

The house construction cost calculator on this page is built on Avenir's own planning rates for current work in Lahore, Islamabad and Rawalpindi, reviewed quarterly. It accounts for city, society or authority, plot size, covered area, basement, design complexity and specification tier, which is more than most published tools consider.

It is a planning tool, not a quotation. It cannot know your soil, your structural spans, your floor heights or your society's requirements, and those move real costs. Treat the output as a budget to start from, then get a BOQ-based quotation against drawings before you commit.

In Lahore a complete house plans at PKR 6,500 per square foot at Essential specification, 7,500 at Standard, 10,000 at Premium and 13,450 at Luxury. In Islamabad and Rawalpindi the same tiers plan at 6,900, 7,900, 10,400 and 13,850.

Those figures cover materials and site labour for grey structure plus finishing. They exclude professional fees, approvals, utility connections, external works, taxes and your own contingency.

Grey structure in Lahore plans at PKR 3,000 per square foot at Essential, 3,300 at Standard, 3,700 at Premium and 4,000 at Luxury, covering materials and site labour. In DHA Lahore add about 6%, giving 3,180 to 4,240.

Grey structure varies far less across tiers than finishing does, because the structural system, steel grade and cement account for most of it. Detail on the grey structure cost page.

Turnkey, meaning a complete house with grey structure and finishing under one contract, plans at PKR 7,500 per square foot at Standard specification in Lahore, and 7,950 in DHA Lahore. Essential is 6,500, Premium 10,000 and Luxury 13,450.

Always confirm in writing whether a quotation is for grey structure, finishing or a complete house before comparing it with anything else.

A complete house at Standard specification plans at PKR 7,900 per square foot in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, and 8,370 in DHA Islamabad. Essential is 6,900, Premium 10,400 and Luxury 13,850.

Islamabad runs above Lahore because the Potohar sub-soil carries boulder and rock beds that Lahore's alluvium does not, which raises excavation and foundation cost, and because freight on finishing materials into the north is higher.

At 1,800 to 2,100 sq ft of covered area at Standard specification, grey structure plans at PKR 57.6 to 67.2 Lakh and a complete house at PKR 1.30 to 1.52 Crore. The rate is about 7,230 per square foot. In DHA Lahore the complete house plans at 1.38 to 1.61 Crore. Typical build time is 5 to 6 months.

Covered area is the assumption doing the work here. Enter your own figure in the calculator above.

At 3,000 to 3,400 sq ft of covered area at Standard specification, grey structure plans at PKR 98.0 Lakh to 1.11 Crore and a complete house at PKR 2.23 to 2.52 Crore, at about 7,430 per square foot. In DHA Lahore the complete house plans at 2.36 to 2.68 Crore. Typical build time is 6 to 7 months.

At 5,500 to 6,300 sq ft of covered area at Standard specification, grey structure plans at PKR 1.82 to 2.08 Crore and a complete house at PKR 4.13 to 4.73 Crore in Lahore, at 7,500 per square foot. In DHA Lahore that becomes 4.37 to 5.01 Crore. Typical build time is 11 to 12 months.

On a 1 Kanal plot the specification tier moves the budget far more than the plot does. At Luxury the same covered area plans at roughly 7.40 to 8.47 Crore in Lahore.

A basement is priced on its own rate per square foot of basement area, PKR 4,500 at Standard in Islamabad against 3,500 for the structure above ground. That difference, about 1,000 per square foot, is what the basement adds on top of what the area would have cost anyway.

On a 1 Kanal house with 5,500 sq ft covered including a 2,000 sq ft basement at Standard specification in Islamabad, the basement adds roughly 20 Lakh over the same house without one. Select With Basement in the calculator and enter your basement area for a figure matched to your design.

No. The rates on this page are for Lahore, Islamabad and Rawalpindi only, and the calculator offers those two markets. Karachi differs on sub-soil, aggregate sources, freight and labour rates, so applying a Lahore rate there would mislead you.

Avenir builds in Lahore, Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Architecture, interior design and project consultancy are available across Pakistan, Karachi included, so if you need drawings rather than construction we can help. For construction in Karachi you will want a local contractor, and the eight questions in our quotation checklist apply just as well there.

There is no reliable standalone lanter rate, and any figure quoted without a structural drawing is a guess. Slab cost is set by span length, slab thickness, one way against two way action, beam depth and column grid, all of which decide the steel quantity before any market rate is applied.

What we can tell you is that grey structure at Standard specification in Lahore plans at PKR 3,300 per square foot of covered area, and the RCC frame including the roof slab is the dominant share of it. If someone offers a lanter rate before seeing a structural drawing, ask what span and steel quantity it assumes.

The figures on this page are material and labour, which is how Avenir works. One contractor is accountable for both procurement and workmanship, so a material failure and a workmanship failure cannot be blamed on each other.

Labour only contracting can work if you have the time to run procurement yourself, storage on site, and someone competent checking every delivery against the specification. Most plot owners, and almost all overseas owners, do not. Avenir does not take labour only contracts.

Grey structure and finishing at the same specification, under one contract and one programme. Grey structure covers excavation and foundations, the RCC frame, masonry, roof slab and base plaster, underground tank and drainage, and conduits for services. Finishing covers floors, wall finishes and paint, kitchen, bathrooms, electrical and plumbing second fix, woodwork, and testing and snagging.

It does not normally include professional fees, approvals, utility connections, boundary wall and external development, solar, central HVAC, lifts, pools, taxes or contingency. Confirm those in writing before you sign.

About 6% more on grey structure, basement and finishing. DHA Regulation 18 requires five compulsory stage inspections, and construction has to match the approved drawing at each one, which removes the on-site adjustment that absorbs cost elsewhere. Annex-C mandates a hard wired fire alarm system with detector counts set by plot size, and Regulation 66 makes CCTV compulsory with ten days of footage retained.

Select DHA in the calculator and the adder is applied automatically.

No. They are indicative planning rates, published so plot owners can budget realistically, and Avenir is not bound to undertake a project at them. A price we can stand behind depends on your drawings, specification, site conditions, programme and the supervision the project needs.

Send us the plot size and society, your target covered area, whether you want a basement, and the specification tier you have in mind. That is enough for a considered planning discussion on WhatsApp.

A firm quotation needs architectural drawings, a structural design and a specification, because until those exist any number is a range. If you do not have drawings yet, that is where to start, and it is a service we provide. See architecture services and construction services.