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By wajahat Ali
Real Estate Analyst
Updated 9 min read
What it actually costs to build two floors on a 10 marla plot in the twin cities this year, grey structure, finishing, per-square-foot rates, and the current material prices driving your budget.
Model your own plot with the Milkiyat.com construction cost calculator, which returns grey and finishing as separate line items.
A 10 marla double story house is the twin cities' upgrade home , the plot families move to when 5 marla stops being enough. It buys you a formal drawing room, a proper lounge, four or five bedrooms, and room for a car porch and a small lawn. It also roughly doubles the covered area you have to pay for, which is where budgets get serious.
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Johar Town Lahore property prices in 2026 vary by location, property type and commercial potential. Explore current house, plot and commercial property trends, key factors and buyer insights.
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By wajahat Ali
Real Estate Analyst
Updated 9 min read
What it actually costs to build two floors on a 10 marla plot in the twin cities this year, grey structure, finishing, per-square-foot rates, and the current material prices driving your budget.
Model your own plot with the Milkiyat.com construction cost calculator, which returns grey and finishing as separate line items.
A 10 marla double story house is the twin cities' upgrade home , the plot families move to when 5 marla stops being enough. It buys you a formal drawing room, a proper lounge, four or five bedrooms, and room for a car porch and a small lawn. It also roughly doubles the covered area you have to pay for, which is where budgets get serious.
Explore the Johar Town commercial property market in 2026, including key commercial areas, location factors, buyer considerations, rental demand and investment potential.
Compare Johar Town Phase 1 and Phase 2 to understand property prices, location, accessibility, lifestyle, rental demand and investment potential for buyers in Lahore.
Johar Town Lahore property prices in 2026 vary by location, property type and commercial potential. Explore current house, plot and commercial property trends, key factors and buyer insights.
A complete buyer's guide to Lake Harbour 2 in Downtown Park View City Islamabad, its A-Com 07 lakefront position, FourSquare Developers' track record, the released 538 sq ft unit, booking procedure, a Lake Harbour 1 comparison, and an honest read on investment potential.
Ask five contractors for a price on the same 10 marla plot and you will get five very different numbers, because most of them quote before they hand you a proper bill of quantities. This guide gives you the honest 2026 ranges for Rawalpindi and Islamabad, broken down by build phase, so you know roughly where the money goes before that conversation starts. No dealer markup, no lowball-then-add-later. If you are still weighing whether to build at all, our house vs plot investment guide for 2026 lays out the returns side by side.
The short answer: A complete, mid-finish 10 marla double story house in Rawalpindi or Islamabad costs roughly PKR 1.6 to 2.3 crore in 2026, based on about 3,200–4,000 sq ft of covered area. Grey structure alone is about PKR 95 lakh to 1.2 crore. Premium finishing can push the all-in total to PKR 2.4–3.2 crore.
A 10 marla plot in the twin cities is about 2,250 square feet of land. Build two floors on it and you get a covered area of roughly 3,200 to 4,000 square feet, depending on how much of the plot you cover and whether you add a servant quarter or roof room. That is comfortably a 4–5 bedroom home with a formal drawing room, family lounge, dining area, kitchen, car porch and front garden — a house you grow into, not out of. If a 10 marla feels larger than you need, compare it against our 5 marla double story construction cost breakdown before you commit to a plot size.
Your total build cost is driven by three things: the covered area, the quality of materials and finishing, and your location's approval regime. That last point matters more than most first-time builders expect — whether your plot falls under CDA, RDA, or a private society's own bylaws changes your map fees, inspections and timelines. Our explainer on what the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) is and does covers how that approval process works on the Pindi side.
Almost every reliable estimate starts from a per-square-foot rate and multiplies by covered area. Here are the 2026 ranges for Rawalpindi and Islamabad, which share the same supplier network and so track closely:
| Build type | Rate per sq ft (2026) |
|---|---|
| Grey structure (material + labour) | PKR 2,800 – 4,500 |
| Turnkey, standard / mid finishing | PKR 4,800 – 7,500 |
| Turnkey, premium finishing | PKR 7,000 – 9,500+ |
| Luxury / ultra finishing | PKR 9,500 – 13,000+ |
Ranges reflect several twin-cities builders' published 2026 planning rates. The spread within each row comes down to soil conditions, structural spec, basement, and finishing choices.
Take a mid-point covered area of around 3,500 sq ft and the phases break down like this for a 2026 build:
| Phase | What it covers | Estimated cost |
|---|---|---|
| Grey structure | Foundation, RCC frame, brickwork, roof slabs, structural labour | PKR 95 lakh – 1.2 crore |
| Finishing (mid-range) | Flooring, plaster, paint, doors, kitchen, wardrobes, sanitary, electrical, plumbing | PKR 65 lakh – 1.1 crore |
| Approvals & utilities | Map approval fees, inspections, meter/utility connections | PKR 5 – 12 lakh |
| Total (mid-finish turnkey) | PKR 1.6 – 2.3 crore |
Grey structure typically eats 55–60% of the total; finishing is the remaining 40–45%. Finishing is also where budgets blow out, because it is the part most tied to taste — the same house can be finished modestly or lavishly, and on a 10 marla the finishing gap between the two can run into tens of lakhs.
Construction rates move because material rates move. These are the mid-2026 twin-cities market prices doing most of the work in the numbers above. For a sense of how much of your budget these represent, the industry rule of thumb is that materials make up roughly 60–70% of total construction cost, according to reporting on Pakistan's construction sector.
| Material | 2026 market rate |
|---|---|
| Cement (50 kg bag) | PKR 1,285 – 1,420 |
| Grade 60 steel rebar | PKR 235 – 255 / kg |
| A-class bricks (per 1,000) | PKR 20,000 – 28,000 |
| Sand | PKR 120 - 180 / cft |
Steel and cement together are the two line items most likely to swing your grey-structure cost, and on a 10 marla the quantities are large — you are buying steel by the many tons and cement by the many hundreds of bags. A PKR 100 move per bag, or a PKR 20 move per kg of steel, is real money at this scale. If you can lock supplier prices before you break ground, do it.
Worth flagging: Published cost guides for the twin cities disagree by a wide margin on 10 marla ,some quote grey structure near PKR 95 lakh, others past 1.2 crore for the same size, and turnkey estimates span 1.6 crore to well over 3 crore. The gap is real, not an error: it reflects grey-structure-only versus turnkey quotes, mid versus premium finishing, and whether items like the boundary wall, main gate and basement are included. Always confirm what a quoted number covers before comparing.
Material and labour rates are broadly the same across the twin cities , they come from the same market. The real cost difference is in approvals and expectations. CDA sectors and premium Islamabad private societies tend to carry higher map fees, tighter bylaws, and a finishing standard the neighbourhood quietly expects and on a 10 marla, that expectation gap costs more than it does on a smaller plot. Where your plot sits also decides its legal footing: our guides to the best CDA-approved housing societies in Islamabad and CDA-approved housing projects show which societies give you the cleanest approval path before you build.
The most expensive construction mistake in the twin cities is not overpaying a contractor , it is building on a plot that was never legally approved. After 1 July 2026, no plot in RDA jurisdiction can be transferred without a Green Property Certificate, and the RDA has declared hundreds of schemes illegal. Before you spend a rupee on cement, confirm your plot's standing — our twin-cities plot verification walkthrough shows exactly how to check through the CDA and RDA portals. It is also worth understanding the wider ownership landscape behind the major developers whose societies you may be buying into.
Three habits protect your budget. First, insist on a written bill of quantities before you sign anything — a quote without a BOQ is a guess, and on a 10 marla the guesses get expensive. Second, decide your finishing tier (mid or premium) up front and price against it, because finishing is where estimates quietly drift. Third, confirm in writing what is included , boundary wall, main gate, basement, and utility connections are the usual items quietly left out of a per-sq-ft rate. None of this needs a dealer; it needs a contractor who will put line items on paper.
How much does it cost to build a 10 marla double story house in Rawalpindi in 2026? Roughly PKR 1.6–2.3 crore for a turnkey build with mid-range finishing on about 3,200–4,000 sq ft of covered area. Grey structure alone is about PKR 95 lakh to 1.2 crore; premium finishing can push the total to PKR 2.4–3.2 crore.
Is construction cheaper in Rawalpindi or Islamabad? Per-square-foot rates are similar because both cities share a supplier network. The cost gap comes from approvals — CDA sectors and premium Islamabad societies often carry higher map fees and stricter bylaws than many RDA-approved Rawalpindi areas.
What is the construction cost per square foot in Islamabad in 2026? Grey structure runs about PKR 2,800–4,500 per sq ft; a complete turnkey build with mid finishing generally lands between PKR 4,800 and 8,800 per sq ft, with premium builds higher.
How much covered area does a 10 marla double story house have? The plot is about 2,250 sq ft of land; the house typically has 3,200–4,000 sq ft of covered area across two floors — room for 4–5 bedrooms, a formal drawing room, lounge, dining, kitchen, servant quarter and car porch.
What share of the cost is grey structure versus finishing? Grey structure is usually 55–60% of total cost; finishing is the remaining 40–45% and is where budgets vary most by taste and material choice.
Milkiyat.com is a commission-free real estate research and editorial platform for the Islamabad–Rawalpindi twin cities market. Cost figures in this article are 2026 market ranges compiled from multiple twin-cities builders and material suppliers; they are planning estimates, not fixed quotes. Confirm current rates and a written bill of quantities with your contractor before building.
Ask five contractors for a price on the same 10 marla plot and you will get five very different numbers, because most of them quote before they hand you a proper bill of quantities. This guide gives you the honest 2026 ranges for Rawalpindi and Islamabad, broken down by build phase, so you know roughly where the money goes before that conversation starts. No dealer markup, no lowball-then-add-later. If you are still weighing whether to build at all, our house vs plot investment guide for 2026 lays out the returns side by side.
The short answer: A complete, mid-finish 10 marla double story house in Rawalpindi or Islamabad costs roughly PKR 1.6 to 2.3 crore in 2026, based on about 3,200–4,000 sq ft of covered area. Grey structure alone is about PKR 95 lakh to 1.2 crore. Premium finishing can push the all-in total to PKR 2.4–3.2 crore.
A 10 marla plot in the twin cities is about 2,250 square feet of land. Build two floors on it and you get a covered area of roughly 3,200 to 4,000 square feet, depending on how much of the plot you cover and whether you add a servant quarter or roof room. That is comfortably a 4–5 bedroom home with a formal drawing room, family lounge, dining area, kitchen, car porch and front garden — a house you grow into, not out of. If a 10 marla feels larger than you need, compare it against our 5 marla double story construction cost breakdown before you commit to a plot size.
Your total build cost is driven by three things: the covered area, the quality of materials and finishing, and your location's approval regime. That last point matters more than most first-time builders expect — whether your plot falls under CDA, RDA, or a private society's own bylaws changes your map fees, inspections and timelines. Our explainer on what the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) is and does covers how that approval process works on the Pindi side.
Almost every reliable estimate starts from a per-square-foot rate and multiplies by covered area. Here are the 2026 ranges for Rawalpindi and Islamabad, which share the same supplier network and so track closely:
| Build type | Rate per sq ft (2026) |
|---|---|
| Grey structure (material + labour) | PKR 2,800 – 4,500 |
| Turnkey, standard / mid finishing | PKR 4,800 – 7,500 |
| Turnkey, premium finishing | PKR 7,000 – 9,500+ |
| Luxury / ultra finishing | PKR 9,500 – 13,000+ |
Ranges reflect several twin-cities builders' published 2026 planning rates. The spread within each row comes down to soil conditions, structural spec, basement, and finishing choices.
Take a mid-point covered area of around 3,500 sq ft and the phases break down like this for a 2026 build:
| Phase | What it covers | Estimated cost |
|---|---|---|
| Grey structure | Foundation, RCC frame, brickwork, roof slabs, structural labour | PKR 95 lakh – 1.2 crore |
| Finishing (mid-range) | Flooring, plaster, paint, doors, kitchen, wardrobes, sanitary, electrical, plumbing | PKR 65 lakh – 1.1 crore |
| Approvals & utilities | Map approval fees, inspections, meter/utility connections | PKR 5 – 12 lakh |
| Total (mid-finish turnkey) | PKR 1.6 – 2.3 crore |
Grey structure typically eats 55–60% of the total; finishing is the remaining 40–45%. Finishing is also where budgets blow out, because it is the part most tied to taste — the same house can be finished modestly or lavishly, and on a 10 marla the finishing gap between the two can run into tens of lakhs.
Construction rates move because material rates move. These are the mid-2026 twin-cities market prices doing most of the work in the numbers above. For a sense of how much of your budget these represent, the industry rule of thumb is that materials make up roughly 60–70% of total construction cost, according to reporting on Pakistan's construction sector.
| Material | 2026 market rate |
|---|---|
| Cement (50 kg bag) | PKR 1,285 – 1,420 |
| Grade 60 steel rebar | PKR 235 – 255 / kg |
| A-class bricks (per 1,000) | PKR 20,000 – 28,000 |
| Sand | PKR 120 - 180 / cft |
Steel and cement together are the two line items most likely to swing your grey-structure cost, and on a 10 marla the quantities are large — you are buying steel by the many tons and cement by the many hundreds of bags. A PKR 100 move per bag, or a PKR 20 move per kg of steel, is real money at this scale. If you can lock supplier prices before you break ground, do it.
Worth flagging: Published cost guides for the twin cities disagree by a wide margin on 10 marla ,some quote grey structure near PKR 95 lakh, others past 1.2 crore for the same size, and turnkey estimates span 1.6 crore to well over 3 crore. The gap is real, not an error: it reflects grey-structure-only versus turnkey quotes, mid versus premium finishing, and whether items like the boundary wall, main gate and basement are included. Always confirm what a quoted number covers before comparing.
Material and labour rates are broadly the same across the twin cities , they come from the same market. The real cost difference is in approvals and expectations. CDA sectors and premium Islamabad private societies tend to carry higher map fees, tighter bylaws, and a finishing standard the neighbourhood quietly expects and on a 10 marla, that expectation gap costs more than it does on a smaller plot. Where your plot sits also decides its legal footing: our guides to the best CDA-approved housing societies in Islamabad and CDA-approved housing projects show which societies give you the cleanest approval path before you build.
The most expensive construction mistake in the twin cities is not overpaying a contractor , it is building on a plot that was never legally approved. After 1 July 2026, no plot in RDA jurisdiction can be transferred without a Green Property Certificate, and the RDA has declared hundreds of schemes illegal. Before you spend a rupee on cement, confirm your plot's standing — our twin-cities plot verification walkthrough shows exactly how to check through the CDA and RDA portals. It is also worth understanding the wider ownership landscape behind the major developers whose societies you may be buying into.
Three habits protect your budget. First, insist on a written bill of quantities before you sign anything — a quote without a BOQ is a guess, and on a 10 marla the guesses get expensive. Second, decide your finishing tier (mid or premium) up front and price against it, because finishing is where estimates quietly drift. Third, confirm in writing what is included , boundary wall, main gate, basement, and utility connections are the usual items quietly left out of a per-sq-ft rate. None of this needs a dealer; it needs a contractor who will put line items on paper.
How much does it cost to build a 10 marla double story house in Rawalpindi in 2026? Roughly PKR 1.6–2.3 crore for a turnkey build with mid-range finishing on about 3,200–4,000 sq ft of covered area. Grey structure alone is about PKR 95 lakh to 1.2 crore; premium finishing can push the total to PKR 2.4–3.2 crore.
Is construction cheaper in Rawalpindi or Islamabad? Per-square-foot rates are similar because both cities share a supplier network. The cost gap comes from approvals — CDA sectors and premium Islamabad societies often carry higher map fees and stricter bylaws than many RDA-approved Rawalpindi areas.
What is the construction cost per square foot in Islamabad in 2026? Grey structure runs about PKR 2,800–4,500 per sq ft; a complete turnkey build with mid finishing generally lands between PKR 4,800 and 8,800 per sq ft, with premium builds higher.
How much covered area does a 10 marla double story house have? The plot is about 2,250 sq ft of land; the house typically has 3,200–4,000 sq ft of covered area across two floors — room for 4–5 bedrooms, a formal drawing room, lounge, dining, kitchen, servant quarter and car porch.
What share of the cost is grey structure versus finishing? Grey structure is usually 55–60% of total cost; finishing is the remaining 40–45% and is where budgets vary most by taste and material choice.
Milkiyat.com is a commission-free real estate research and editorial platform for the Islamabad–Rawalpindi twin cities market. Cost figures in this article are 2026 market ranges compiled from multiple twin-cities builders and material suppliers; they are planning estimates, not fixed quotes. Confirm current rates and a written bill of quantities with your contractor before building.
