Marla and Kanal Explained: Pakistan Property Size Units Guide

Every Pakistani property listing is priced in marlas and kanals, yet the actual size of a marla changes from one city — sometimes one housing scheme — to the next. If you are comparing a 10 marla house in DHA Lahore with a 10 marla house in old Rawalpindi city, you may be comparing two plots that differ by more than 470 square feet. This guide explains exactly how the units work, where each standard applies, and how to convert between them with confidence.

The two marla standards in Pakistan

The confusion has a simple historical cause. Under the British revenue system, 1 marla equalled 272.25 sq ft (one square karam of 5.5 ft x 5.5 ft, times 9). After independence, planned housing schemes adopted a rounded, decimal-friendly standard of 25 square yards, which works out to 225 sq ft. Both standards survive today:

Standard	Size of 1 marla	Where it applies
Modern / scheme marla	225 sq ft (25 sq yd)	DHA (all cities), Bahria Town, LDA/CDA/RDA approved schemes, most private societies launched after the 1960s
Traditional / big marla	272.25 sq ft (30.25 sq yd)	Old city areas of Punjab, rural Punjab revenue records (fard), most of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, agricultural land

Karachi runs on a third system entirely: plots there are quoted in square yards, locally called gaz (a 120 sq yd plot, a 240 sq yd plot) rather than marlas. When Karachi listings do mention marlas, they almost always mean the 25 sq yd scheme marla, so 120 sq yd is roughly 4.8 marla and 240 sq yd is roughly 9.6 marla — which is why these plots are marketed as "5 marla" and "10 marla" equivalents.

Conversion tables you can trust

Common plot sizes (modern 225 sq ft marla)

Plot	Square feet	Square yards	Square metres	Typical dimensions
3 marla	675	75	62.7	18 x 38 ft
5 marla	1,125	125	104.5	25 x 45 ft
7 marla	1,575	175	146.3	30 x 52 ft
10 marla	2,250	250	209.0	35 x 65 ft
1 kanal (20 marla)	4,500	500	418.1	50 x 90 ft
2 kanal	9,000	1,000	836.1	75 x 120 ft

The full unit ladder

• 1 kanal = 20 marlas (4,500 sq ft modern, 5,445 sq ft traditional)
• 1 acre = 8 kanals = 160 marlas (43,560 sq ft)
• 1 murabba = 25 acres = 200 kanals — used for Punjab farmland
• 1 killa — in practice treated as equal to 1 acre in revenue records
• 1 gaz = 1 square yard = 9 sq ft — the Karachi standard

For quick conversions in either direction, use our free marla–kanal–square feet converter, which supports both marla standards.

Why this matters when you buy

Per-marla pricing is the universal language of Pakistani real estate, so the marla standard directly changes what you pay. Suppose two sellers each ask PKR 30 lakh per marla for a "10 marla" plot. On the modern standard you get 2,250 sq ft; on the traditional standard you get 2,722.5 sq ft — about 21% more land for the same money. Before you negotiate:

1. Ask which standard the society uses. The allotment letter or site plan states plot dimensions in feet; multiply length by width and divide by 225 and by 272.25 to see which marla count matches.
2. Check the fard (record of rights) for rural or old-city property. Revenue records in Punjab use the traditional karam-based units, and the patwari measurement will not match a 225 sq ft assumption.
3. Verify covered area separately for houses. A "10 marla house" describes the plot. Covered area (often 1.6 to 1.8 times the plot size for a double-storey house) is what determines construction value — our construction cost calculator works from covered area, not plot size.

Marla sizes by city: quick reference

• Lahore — 225 sq ft in DHA, Bahria, LDA Avenue, Johar Town and all approved schemes; 272.25 sq ft inside the old city and on rural fard records.
• Islamabad & Rawalpindi — CDA sectors and DHA/Bahria use 225 sq ft; old Rawalpindi city and surrounding villages commonly use 272.25 sq ft.
• Karachi — square yards (gaz) throughout; 120/240/500 sq yd are the standard residential cuts.
• Peshawar and KPK — the traditional 272.25 sq ft marla remains the default in most areas, including many newer schemes; always confirm.
• Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranwala — planned colonies use 225 sq ft; older mohallahs and agricultural land use the traditional unit.

The bottom line

Never sign for a plot priced per marla without confirming the square footage on the site plan. The one-line question "yeh marla 225 ka hai ya 272 ka?" can save you lakhs. Once you know the true area, compare per-square-foot prices across societies — that is the only like-for-like comparison — and use the area converter to keep the numbers straight.