What It Costs to Live There Each Month — DHA Lahore
Every field, the formula behind it, and a worked example.
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Help › The calculators › Monthly cost
Seven fields, one honest total. Rent or instalment is the part everyone counts; this is the part that quietly doubles it.
Open this calculator01
When to use it
Before you commit to a house — yours or rented. Two houses at the same price can cost very different amounts to live in.
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Every field, explained
| Electricity (Rs) | A monthly average, not last month. In Lahore the summer bill can be three times the winter one, so add twelve months and divide by twelve. |
| Gas (Rs) | Same — average it across the year. Winter is where this one rises. |
| Water (Rs) | Usually small, but put it in. In most of DHA it comes with the society bill. |
| DHA maintenance / society charges (Rs, monthly) | What DHA charges for the area's upkeep. It depends on plot size, so ask for the figure for that exact plot. |
| Guard, gardener, maid (Rs, monthly) | Staff. This is the field people leave empty and then wonder where the money went. |
| Property tax (Rs, per year) | A yearly figure — the calculator divides it by twelve for you. Do not convert it yourself. |
| Insurance (Rs, per year) | Also yearly, also divided by twelve. Leave it empty if you have none. |
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How the answer is worked out
- The five monthly fields are simply added together.
- The two yearly fields — property tax and insurance — are each divided by twelve and added in.
- The big number is the monthly total. The second number is that same total multiplied by twelve, so you can see the year.
A worked example — 10 marla house
| Electricity (yearly average) | Rs 35,000 |
| Gas | Rs 6,000 |
| Water + society | Rs 4,000 |
| Guard + maid | Rs 45,000 |
| Property tax (yearly) | Rs 24,000 → Rs 2,000/month |
About Rs 92,000 a month — roughly Rs 11 lakh a year — before a single rupee of rent or instalment. That is the figure most people do not put on paper.
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Mistakes people make
- Putting in last month's electricity bill instead of a yearly average. A February bill will flatter the answer badly.
- Converting the yearly fields to monthly yourself. Put the yearly figure in the yearly field — the calculator divides.
- Leaving staff empty because "it is not really a house cost". It is, every month.
- Forgetting generator or solar running costs — put them under electricity.
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What it does not do
- It does not include rent or your bank instalment. This is the cost of living there, on top of those.
- It does not include repairs, which come in lumps rather than monthly.
- It does not know DHA's maintenance rates — those depend on the plot and change; ask DHA.
- It does not adjust for a house sitting empty.
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Questions
- Why separate yearly fields?
- Should I add the instalment here?
- Does it save what I type?
Because property tax and insurance arrive as one yearly bill. Making you convert them is how mistakes happen, so the calculator does it.
No. Keep it separate so you can see the two halves of the cost clearly.
No. Nothing is stored and nothing is sent anywhere — close the tab and it is gone.