The 5 Marla is Pakistan's most-built house size, and the one where design matters most — there is no spare space to absorb a poor plan. This guide covers what genuinely fits on a standard 25×50 ft plot, and the decisions that separate a cramped 5 Marla from one that feels generous.
The plot you are working with
A standard 5 Marla in Faisal Town Phase 2 measures 25×50 ft — 1,250 sq ft, 139 sq yd. That is your land. Your buildable footprint is smaller, because the society's by-laws require setbacks — mandatory open space at the front and, depending on the rules, at the rear and sides.
Confirm your society's specific by-laws before designing. Covered-area ratios, setbacks and permitted height vary between societies and change over time; designing to the wrong rules means paying for drawings twice. Our by-laws and covered area guide explains what to ask for.
As a working assumption for planning purposes, many 5 Marla builds achieve roughly 850–1,000 sq ft of covered area per floor after setbacks, which gives around 1,700–2,000 sq ft total on a double storey. Treat that as a planning range, not a promise — your approved drawings decide it.
A realistic single-storey layout
On one floor with roughly 850–1,000 sq ft, a comfortable arrangement is:
- 2 bedrooms (one master with attached bath, one family bedroom)
- 1 additional bathroom
- A combined lounge and dining space — on this footprint, separating them wastes circulation
- A galley or L-shaped kitchen
- A small front setback usable for one car and a planting strip
This suits a small family, a rental build, or a first home. Trying to force three bedrooms onto a single 5 Marla floor is the most common design error — you end up with three rooms nobody enjoys.
The double-storey layout most families choose
Two floors is where the 5 Marla becomes a genuine family home:
- Ground floor: drawing/guest room, lounge, dining, kitchen, powder room, and a small store under the stairs
- First floor: 3 bedrooms (master with attached bath), a shared bathroom, and a small family lounge or landing
- Roof: a laundry and water tank area, often with a small room
This gives a 4-bedroom-equivalent house with proper separation between guest and family space — the arrangement most Pakistani families actually want.
Design decisions that make a 5 Marla live larger
1. Put circulation in one place. Every corridor is floor area you paid for and cannot furnish. A central stair with rooms off a compact landing beats a long corridor.
2. Combine lounge and dining rather than walling them apart. One generous space reads much larger than two tight ones.
3. Light from two sides where you can. A 25 ft width limits you, so prioritise openings on the front and rear, and consider a small internal light well on deeper plans.
4. Build storage in. Wardrobes and under-stair storage recover floor space that freestanding furniture would eat.
5. Keep ceiling height generous. It costs comparatively little and does more for the feeling of space than any floor-plan trick.
6. Stack wet areas. Putting first-floor bathrooms above ground-floor ones shortens plumbing runs and reduces cost — see our construction stages guide for why services planning matters early.
What it costs to build
At typical 2026 twin-cities turnkey rates, a double-storey 5 Marla of roughly 1,900–2,200 sq ft covered lands broadly in the PKR 1.2–1.7 Crore range for construction, moving substantially with specification. The full cost breakdown is here, and where you can genuinely save.
Put that next to the land: a 5.56 Marla in Faisal Town Phase 2 is PKR 2,790,000 on full payment or PKR 3,495,000 on the 36-month plan (current rates). The honest total-project picture is land plus construction, and construction is usually the larger half.
Before you design anything
You cannot build until the plot is in possession, which in FT2 is block-dependent — Sector O leads the queue and newer sectors are considerably further out (possession sequence). And the society's NOC is under process, not approved (position), which belongs in any decision that precedes a construction budget.
Considering a 5 Marla and want to know honestly which blocks you could build on and when? Talk to our team.
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