Marla and Kanal: Plot Sizes in Faisalabad

If you are buying a plot or planning a house in Faisalabad, you will hear sizes in marla and kanal, not square feet. The trouble is that a "5 marla plot" is not always the same size. Before you buy, or before anyone draws a plan, it pays to know exactly what you are getting.

How big is one marla?

There are two common answers, and both are in use.

• 272.25 square feet (30.25 square yards). This is the traditional marla used in Punjab land revenue records.
• 225 square feet (25 square yards). Many housing societies and approved schemes measure a marla this way.

You may also hear 250 square feet from some dealers. The difference adds up quickly. A 5 marla plot is about 1,125 square feet at 225, but about 1,361 square feet at 272.25. That is more than 200 square feet, roughly the size of an extra bedroom.

What to do: check your registry, fard or society allotment letter. It states the area. If it only says "5 marla", ask the seller or society which marla they use, and measure the plot yourself.

Kanal to marla

One kanal is 20 marla. So:

Size	At 225 sq ft per marla	At 272.25 sq ft per marla
3 marla	675 sq ft	about 817 sq ft
5 marla	1,125 sq ft	about 1,361 sq ft
7 marla	1,575 sq ft	about 1,906 sq ft
10 marla	2,250 sq ft	about 2,723 sq ft
1 kanal (20 marla)	4,500 sq ft	5,445 sq ft
2 kanal	9,000 sq ft	10,890 sq ft

Common plot dimensions

Society plots are usually laid out to standard widths and depths. These are the ones you will see most often:

• 5 marla: around 25 x 45 feet
• 10 marla: around 35 x 65 feet
• 1 kanal: around 50 x 90 feet

Older areas of the city often have irregular plots, so never assume. A plot that is wide but shallow needs a very different house plan from one that is narrow and deep, even when the area is the same.

Why the exact size matters for your house

Covered area. Building bylaws allow you to cover only part of the plot and require open space at the front and sometimes the back. These rules come from the Faisalabad Development Authority (FDA) or your housing society, and they depend on plot size. The covered area, not the plot area, decides how many rooms fit.

Cost. Construction is priced on covered area per floor. A wrong plot size means a wrong estimate from day one.

Approval. Your building plan has to match the plot shown in your documents. A mismatch can hold up approval.

Before you buy or build

1. Read the area on the documents, and ask which marla size it uses.
2. Measure the plot on site, including the frontage.
3. Ask your authority or society about setbacks and covered-area limits for that size.
4. Only then start on drawings.

Worked example: one size, two answers

Two buyers each pay for a "10 marla" plot. One is in a scheme that uses 225 square feet per marla, so the plot is 2,250 square feet. The other is in an older area where the revenue marla of 272.25 square feet applies, so the plot is about 2,723 square feet.

The difference is roughly 473 square feet. In the first scheme that is more than two extra marla. If both plots are priced "per marla", the second buyer is getting a lot more land for the same rate, and a house plan drawn for one will not fit the other.

Square yards and square metres

Some documents and listings use square yards, and some architects work in square metres. The conversions are fixed:

• 1 square yard = 9 square feet
• 1 square metre = about 10.76 square feet

So a 5 marla plot is 125 square yards (about 104.5 square metres) at 225 square feet per marla, or 151.25 square yards (about 126.5 square metres) at 272.25.

Mistakes we see before people build

• Comparing prices across schemes without converting. A lower price per marla can be the more expensive plot once you work out the square feet.
• Ignoring the frontage. Two plots of the same area can have very different widths. A narrow frontage limits the rooms you can place side by side and the size of a car porch.
• Treating a corner plot like any other. Corner plots face two roads, and the rules for open space and the boundary on both sides can differ. Ask before you plan.
• Planning rooms before checking the rules. The covered area allowed on the plot decides everything else.

Questions we hear

Is a marla in Faisalabad 225 or 272.25 square feet? Both are in use. Housing schemes often use 225, while land records use 272.25. Your documents decide which applies to your plot.

How many marla make a kanal? Twenty. So 2 kanal is 40 marla.

Can I build on the whole plot? No. Bylaws require open space and limit the covered area. The Faisalabad Development Authority or your society can tell you the limits for your plot size.

Does the plot size change the construction cost? The plot size itself does not. The covered area you build, and the number of floors, does. That is why the exact size and the rules both matter before you get an estimate.

We start every project with a site visit and measurements for exactly this reason. If you have a plot and want to know what it can take, see our architecture and drawings service or tell us about your plot.

Next, read how to plan a 5 marla double storey house.