Rent agreement in Pakistan: what to include and which stamp paper

A rent agreement in Pakistan must be in writing in Punjab, Islamabad and Sindh. In Punjab, the landlord must also present it to the district Rent Registrar. If he doesn’t, the Rent Tribunal won’t hear his case until he pays a fine of 10% of a year’s rent (5% for a tenant). Print the agreement on e-stamp paper from Punjab’s e-stamping portal, whose lease form asks for the lease period and the average annual rent.

This guide follows the law itself: the Punjab Rented Premises Act 2009, the Sindh Rented Premises Ordinance 1979 and the Islamabad Rent Restriction Ordinance 2001 as amended in 2021. We read the Punjab Act (an archived copy from February 2025), the Sindh Ordinance and the 2021 Islamabad amendment in October 2026.

What must a rent agreement in Pakistan include?

Section 6 of the Punjab Act lists what a tenancy agreement should contain, “as far as possible”. The same list works as a checklist anywhere in Pakistan.

The Act also sets duties for each side. Write them in anyway, so both sides know them:

• Landlord: gives the tenant a certified copy of the agreement, keeps the house habitable, pays taxes on the property, and gives reasonable notice before entering.
• Tenant: keeps the premises as let (normal wear and tear aside), makes no structural change and doesn’t sublet without the landlord’s written consent.
• Utilities: the landlord may not cut off a utility without just cause.

Taxes and charges levied on the premises are the landlord’s to pay under the Act. See property tax in Punjab.

Which stamp paper do you need for a rent agreement in Punjab?

Use an e-stamp paper generated through the Board of Revenue’s e-Stamping Citizen Portal (es.punjab.gov.pk). Its challan form has a lease option with fields for the lessor (landlord), the lessee (tenant), the lease period in years and the average annual rent. The form asks for rent and term, but we couldn’t confirm how the duty is worked out for a short let (see below).

The form notes that CVT (capital value tax) is not applied when the lease period is under 20 years.

The archived portal page also lists a stamp verification page and a helpline on 08000-8100. Check the stamp before you sign, especially if an agent bought it for you.

What we could confirm about recent changes:

• 2020: the Punjab Finance Act 2020 cut the duty on long urban leases. For a 20-year lease it fell from 5.25% to 2% of the average annual rent, according to a Courting The Law summary of the change.
• 2024: the Punjab Finance Act 2024, passed with the 2024-25 budget, raised many fixed stamp duties. Affidavits went from Rs 100 to Rs 300 and agreements to sell property from Rs 1,200 to Rs 3,000, Pakistan Observer reported. KPMG’s table of the 2024 changes doesn’t list the lease article.

Do you have to register a rent agreement?

In Punjab, there are three separate steps, and doing one doesn’t excuse the others.

1. Rent Registrar. Section 5 of the Punjab Act says the landlord “shall present the tenancy agreement before the Rent Registrar”. The Registrar enters the details in a register, stamps the agreement with an official seal, keeps a copy and returns the original. That entry, or a certified copy of it, is proof that you are landlord and tenant.

Any later agreement between you, such as a renewal, goes to the Rent Registrar the same way.

2. Registration Act, for longer leases. The Rent Registrar’s entry doesn’t replace registration under the Registration Act 1908, the Punjab Act says. That Act makes registration compulsory for leases “from year to year, or for any term exceeding one year, or reserving a yearly rent”. A lease that needed registration and wasn’t registered doesn’t create any right in the property.

3. Police. The Punjab Information of Temporary Residents Act 2015 requires the owner, the tenant or the property dealer to register the tenant with the police. You can do it online on the Punjab Police Tenant Registration System or at a police station or Khidmat Markaz. As of October 2026, Lahore Police list it as free, done on the spot in about 15 to 20 minutes. See tenant registration in Punjab for the full steps.

What happens if the agreement isn’t registered?

On Rs 60,000 a month in rent, the landlord’s fine would be Rs 72,000 before the Tribunal hears his application (our calculation: 10% of Rs 7.2 lakh). The tenant would pay Rs 36,000 before it hears his.

The Tribunal must decide a case within 4 months of filing.

When can a landlord evict a tenant in Punjab?

Section 15 of the Punjab Act includes these grounds:

• the tenancy period has ended
• rent is unpaid 30 days after it was due
• the tenant broke a term of the agreement
• the premises is used for a different purpose
• the tenant sublet without written consent

A clear period and purpose in the agreement make the first and fourth grounds easy to prove. If the house is sold, the new owner must tell the tenant in writing and apply to the Rent Registrar to be entered as landlord.

Rent agreement rules in Karachi and Islamabad

Islamabad also requires every payment connected with the tenancy to be made by crossed cheque or against a proper receipt. Disputes there are referred to a Mediation Council convened by the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce, which should finish within 30 days.

In Sindh, the landlord must acknowledge rent in writing. Keep those receipts with the attested agreement: the Ordinance accepts the attested original, or a certified copy of a registered deed, as proof of the tenancy.

We didn’t check stamp duty rates for Sindh or Islamabad.

Before you sign

If you are an overseas Pakistani letting out a house through a relative, read our property guide for overseas Pakistanis. Selling a let property later? See tax on property sale and property transfer in Punjab. Describing the plot size in the agreement? Use the marla to square feet converter.

More guides: fard online in Punjab, succession certificate, home loans in Pakistan, Property.