Most roofs in Lahore do nothing over Basant. The family goes to somebody else's, or nobody flies at all, and a flat slab with a good wall around it sits empty through the one fortnight of the year when people are paying for exactly that.
This page is for the owner, not the renter. What a roof has to be before it can be advertised, what you have to settle before anyone comes, and what does not stop being yours once money changes hands. If you are on the other side of it and looking for a roof, what rooftops cost in Lahore is the page you want instead.
First: can your roof be listed at all
Three of these are not negotiable, because they are the law rather than a preference.
The parapet. Punjab sets the floor at 3.5 feet of boundary wall or safety grill, sound enough that leaning on it proves nothing. This is the single rule that came out of the 2026 casualty record, and it is the one that disqualifies most roofs that would otherwise be fine. A four-foot wall on three sides and a knee-high edge on the fourth is not a roof that meets it. We do not list roofs below the standard at all, and neither should anyone else.
The structure. An unsound roof cannot lawfully be flown from at all. Cracked slabs, a crumbling edge, a parapet you can rock by leaning on it — these are not things a coat of paint fixes before January.
The openings. The mouth of the stairwell. The space behind the water tank. The corner where the wall stops because the neighbour's was meant to carry on and never did. People go over at the edges nobody thought about, not in the middle of the roof.
If your roof fails the first one and the wall can be raised, raise it — there is a 30 December 2026 deadline for bringing roofs up to standard, and a roof still being offered in the weeks before Basant that has done nothing about it tells a renter everything. The full rooftop standard sets out the rest.
The facts you have to be straight about
A listing is a set of claims, and the ones that get a roof rejected on arrival are nearly always the ones that were stretched.
How many it holds. Not how many fit. How many people a rooftop can hold works through the difference, because overcrowding is now explicitly against the rules and a capacity you cannot deliver is a refund argument on the day.
Which days it is free. Basant 2027 runs 12 to 14 March, three consecutive days. That is three usable days. Say which of them you actually have — a roof free for three days is a perfectly good listing, and an owner who claims nine and then has a wedding on the second is not.
The access. One narrow staircase changes what the roof is for. So does a lift. So does whether guests walk through your house to reach it, which is the detail owners most often leave out and renters most often care about.
The NOC position. Whether you hold one, have applied, or believe the gathering does not need one. When a rooftop gathering needs an NOC is the page to settle that against, and "we'll sort it later" is not an answer that survives January.
Photographing it
Photographs are the listing. Most of the ones we are sent are a sunset over the city, which is a nice picture of Lahore and tells a renter nothing about the roof.
Shoot in daylight, from the stairs looking across, so the whole floor is in one frame. Then the parapet — stand close enough that its height against a door or a person is obvious. Then the stairs or the lift, the way a guest will arrive. Then whatever you are claiming: the washroom, the tap, the shaded corner, the parking in the lane.
Five photographs of the roof beat twenty of the skyline. If the main photo is the view rather than the floor, we will ask for another one.
How a listing works here
Four steps, and none of them involve us touching your money.
- Fill in the listing form with the details and the photos.
- We message you on WhatsApp with the one-off listing fee and you send the payment screenshot.
- We check the details against the photos. Anything missing, unclear or contradictory is held back until it is fixed.
- The listing goes up on the rooftops board and renters contact you directly.
We advertise. We do not inspect roofs, take bookings, hold deposits, or take a share of the rent. The figure and the terms are yours to set with the renter.
What is still yours after they arrive
This is the part owners skip and then find out about.
Under the 2027 rules it is the property owner who answers for the roof being sound and for what happens on it. Taking rent does not visibly shift that, which is why the terms are worth putting in writing before the day rather than arguing about afterwards: how many people are coming, who supervises children, who provides first aid, what happens if the Government moves the dates again.
The last one is not hypothetical. The dates have already moved once, and an agreement with no clause for it is an argument waiting to happen.
Frequently asked
How much can I charge to rent my roof for Basant?
Whatever the roof is worth, which depends mostly on the view, the capacity and how early you are listing. What rooftops cost in Lahore has the 2026 range and what moved it. Rents on our board are the owner's asking figure, not a price we set.
Do I need an NOC to rent my roof out?
It turns on the size and nature of the gathering rather than on whether rent was paid. The rooftop NOC page has the test and the application steps.
My parapet is under 3.5 feet. Can I still list?
Not until it is raised. Below 3.5 feet the roof cannot lawfully be used for kite flying, so there is nothing to advertise — and we refuse these at the form rather than after payment.
When should I list the roof?
Before the new year. There are only so many roofs in Lahore and a great many people wanting one, so the supply goes long before the kites do — and after 30 December 2026 an unimproved roof starts reading to renters as a roof that is not going to be fixed.
Does Basant Shop take a commission on the rent?
No. Advertising the listing costs a single fee, which we quote on WhatsApp. Everything the renter pays for the roof goes to you.
Kites, dor and everything that goes with them
Once the roof is settled, the rest is a short list. Kites by the tawa grade, 100% cotton dor on QR-coded pinnay, gloves and tape — all sold singly from Lahore at a published price. See the products and prices.
Selling is paused while our registration is suspended by the Punjab Government — see the notice. The products and prices stay published so you can plan, and we answer questions either way.
- Patang & gudda
- Cotton dor
- Pinnay
- Gloves
- Tape
- Delivery in Lahore