DHA Gandhara Launch Update 2026: Not Launched, Files Unauthorised

In Pakistan's capital, buyers pay millions for plots that do not officially exist

DHA Islamabad-Rawalpindi says its Gandhara project has not launched and no file sales are authorised. Dealers are selling them anyway.

Islamabad, Pakistan: On the motorway corridor south-west of Islamabad, a housing project that its own developer says has not yet launched is already changing hands for millions of rupees.

Dealers across the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi are advertising "files" for DHA Gandhara, also known as DHA Phase 9, at up to Rs 7.45 million for a single one-kanal plot. These are paper entitlements to a future plot.

But the Defence Housing Authority Islamabad-Rawalpindi (DHAI-R), the military-linked body that runs the project, has said Gandhara has not been officially launched. It has also said it has not authorised any public sale or purchase of its files.

The gap between those two positions leaves buyers exposed. They are paying for something the authority does not yet recognise.

A market without a price

DHA has published no launch price, ballot, payment plan or possession schedule for Gandhara. The project does not appear in the authority's own price benchmark.

The market has filled that vacuum on its own.

Dealer advertisements offer a one-kanal plot at Rs 5.5 million in cash, or Rs 7.45 million paid over 18 months. On online listing portals, one-kanal files are asking between roughly Rs 5.45 million and Rs 6.5 million. The price depends on whether the seller describes the paper as an "affidavit file" or a "transferable file". Neither term has any standing with DHA for Gandhara.

A Milkiyat.com analysis of these figures shows how loosely the market is priced. Buyers on the dealer instalment plan pay Rs 1,950,000 more than cash buyers (Rs 7,450,000 − Rs 5,500,000). That is a premium of 35.5 percent (Rs 1,950,000 ÷ Rs 5,500,000) on a file DHA says it has not issued for sale.

The resale range is just as wide. The highest asking price is Rs 1,050,000 above the lowest (Rs 6,500,000 − Rs 5,450,000), a spread of 19.3 percent (Rs 1,050,000 ÷ Rs 5,450,000) for what is described as the same product.

A familiar pattern

Gandhara is reported to cover about 32,500 kanals on the M-2 Motorway belt beside Capital Smart City. It is being developed as a joint venture between the Army Welfare Trust and Habib Rafiq Limited.

The DHA name carries weight in Pakistan's property market. Its established phases in Islamabad and Rawalpindi are among the most expensive addresses in the twin cities. That reputation is what makes a pre-launch file attractive, and it is also what makes it risky.

A file sold before launch carries no plot number, no block and no DHA payment schedule. If the authority has not sanctioned the trade, there may be no DHA transfer route for that file once the project opens. The terms DHA sets at launch could also differ from whatever a dealer has promised.

Pakistan's housing market has seen this cycle before. Files trade on the strength of a name, prices rise on speculation, and buyers learn the official terms only after the money has changed hands.

What happens next

DHA has not said when Gandhara will launch, or how it will treat files bought before that date.

Until it does, buyers are advised to get written confirmation from DHAI-R before paying anything. They should treat any "pre-launch" or "LP file" offer as unverified.

For now, the only official word on DHA Gandhara is that it is not for sale.