Risk & Legal · Property
Illegal housing societies in Karachi: SBCA's own list names 52 projects without a sale NOC, and Sindh audit flagged 58 schemes in July 2026. How to check one.
AI Summary
SBCA publishes a scanned Illegal Societies PDF, with the file dated 31 October 2024, holding 52 line items in three notices that each say no NOC for sale and advertisement was granted. In July 2026 Dawn reported that audit officials flagged 58 illegal schemes in Karachi without naming them. SBCA's year pages show five sale NOCs since 2025: three in 2026 and two in 2025, as of 26 October 2026.
Karachi’s building regulator, the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA), publishes a PDF called Illegal Societies: three scanned public notices naming 52 line items, each saying SBCA has not granted a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for Sale and Advertisement. The file’s name carries the date 31 October 2024, so it is an older list, and it is not complete: Dawn reported on 29 July 2026 that audit officials flagged 58 illegal housing schemes in Karachi, without naming them. We read SBCA’s pages and PDF on 26 October 2026.
1,658 schemes from LDA, RDA and CDA, as listed on 14 October 2026. Type at least 3 letters.
Approved Partly approved Cancelled Illegal
Each notice warns the public not to book or buy units in the listed projects and says SBCA will not act as arbitrator in any dispute. The PDF is a scan, not a table, and the notices show no clear date: one has a handwritten date near the signature that is hard to read. Some names repeat, so the number of distinct projects is below 52.
| Notice | Line items | Examples named (area) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | The Greens (Deh Tore, Gadap Town); Karachi Dream Villas (Scheme-45); Umm Ul Qura City (Gadap Town); Al-Qasar Tower (Scheme-33); Rehman Square (Scheme-24) |
| 2 | 24 | Shangrila City and Canal View City (Northern Bypass); Rumaisa City; Atap Town (Scheme-45); DJ Residency; Mehmad Tower (Surjani Town) |
| 3 | 20 | Ideal Gold Town (Scheme-33); Raji City; Al-Mujeeb Garden (Model Colony, Malir); Kaneez Fatima Town (Scheme-45); Ayesha Town (Northern Bypass); Hills City (Malir) |
A project missing from this PDF is not necessarily legal. The 58 schemes Dawn reported are larger than the 52 line items here, and the committee told SBCA to make their names public. We found no published list of those 58.
SBCA’s year pages list public-sale projects that received an NOC for Sale and Advertisement. The pages show no last-updated date. On 26 October 2026:
| NOC date | Project | Builder | Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 Sep 2026 | Alvisha Housing Society | M.A.A. Construction & Builders (Pvt.) Ltd | 28 acres 20 ghuntas, Deh Halkani, West Karachi |
| 30 Apr 2026 | Maliha Residency | Samma Builders & Developers | 7 acres 6 ghuntas, Deh Malh, Malir district |
| 25 Feb 2026 | Gulsh-e-Shafi Hakim | Al-Rafi Enterprises | 7 acres 38 ghuntas, Deh Thano, Malir district |
| 12 Dec 2025 | Gul-e-Rehmat | Kanjiani Builders & Developers | 3 acres 31 ghuntas, Deh Thano, Malir |
| 20 Mar 2025 | Naya Nazimabad-I | Javedan Corporation Limited | 12 acres, Deh Orangi, Manghopir Road |
That is five new sale NOCs in two years on SBCA’s pages. The 2026 page’s heading says 2025, but its rows are dated 2026; we followed the NOC dates. An NOC is permission to sell and advertise. It does not tell you the price, the payment plan, whether plots are ready or whether utilities are connected, and we found no independent source for those on these five projects.
For a Karachi society with a full review, see DHA Karachi and Bahria Town Karachi.
We did not find readable lists from KDA, the Malir Development Authority or the Sindh Katchi Abadis Authority, so this guide covers SBCA only. Do not read the absence of a project from these lists as approval.
SBCA publishes an 'Illegal Societies' PDF of public notices naming 52 line items. The file is dated 31 October 2024, so it is not current. Dawn reported in July 2026 that audit officials flagged 58 illegal schemes, so the PDF cannot be complete.
SBCA says a project without an NOC for Sale and Advertisement is illegal. Ask the builder for the NOC number, match it to SBCA's public sale project pages (2021 to 2026), and screen the name against the Illegal Societies PDF.
SBCA's 2026 page lists Gulsh-e-Shafi Hakim (25 Feb 2026), Maliha Residency (30 Apr 2026) and Alvisha Housing Society (3 Sep 2026). Its 2025 page lists Naya Nazimabad-I (20 Mar 2025) and Gul-e-Rehmat (12 Dec 2025).
No. The NOC permits sale and advertisement. Possession, utilities and delivery depend on the developer and need separate checks.
Photo: Zak Kazi / CC BY-SA 4.0
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