How the marla conversion works
One marla equals 272.25 sq ft under the revenue standard, 250 sq ft under one society standard, and 225 sq ft under the other, and your document decides which value governs your plot. That is the whole difficulty of this unit, and it is why the standard selector sits at the top of the converter rather than in a footnote. Marla to square feet multiplies by the standard. Square feet to marla divides by the same standard. The result card prints the standard beside the answer, so a screenshot of the result can never drift away from its basis.
The revenue standard runs through the official land record: the fard, the registry, and the measurement chain of karam and sarsahi that produced the odd figure of 272.25. Housing societies draw their own plot grids, and many allot plots at 250 or 225 sq ft per marla. Neither side is cheating. The unit simply changes meaning between the two paper worlds, and a buyer who converts with the wrong standard prices a plot that does not exist. I write that sentence from the inside: two honest documents once described my father's 5 marla plot with areas more than 100 sq ft apart, and neither page had lied to anyone.
Marla to square feet under all three standards
The main table puts the three standards side by side for 1 to 40 marla, so a reader can see the gap grow with the plot size instead of trusting a single column.
| Marla | Revenue (272.25) | Society (250) | Society (225) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 272.25 sq ft | 250 sq ft | 225 sq ft |
| 2 | 544.50 sq ft | 500 sq ft | 450 sq ft |
| 3 | 816.75 sq ft | 750 sq ft | 675 sq ft |
| 4 | 1,089.00 sq ft | 1,000 sq ft | 900 sq ft |
| 5 | 1,361.25 sq ft | 1,250 sq ft | 1,125 sq ft |
| 6 | 1,633.50 sq ft | 1,500 sq ft | 1,350 sq ft |
| 7 | 1,905.75 sq ft | 1,750 sq ft | 1,575 sq ft |
| 8 | 2,178.00 sq ft | 2,000 sq ft | 1,800 sq ft |
| 9 | 2,450.25 sq ft | 2,250 sq ft | 2,025 sq ft |
| 10 | 2,722.50 sq ft | 2,500 sq ft | 2,250 sq ft |
| 12 | 3,267.00 sq ft | 3,000 sq ft | 2,700 sq ft |
| 15 | 4,083.75 sq ft | 3,750 sq ft | 3,375 sq ft |
| 20 (1 kanal) | 5,445.00 sq ft | 5,000 sq ft | 4,500 sq ft |
| 30 | 8,167.50 sq ft | 7,500 sq ft | 6,750 sq ft |
| 40 (2 kanal) | 10,890.00 sq ft | 10,000 sq ft | 9,000 sq ft |
Standard plot sizes and dimensions
Plot sizes travel with typical front and depth dimensions in each standard, and the dimensions reveal the standard when a document hides it.
| Plot size | Revenue standard | 250 standard | 225 standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 marla | 816.75 sq ft | 750 sq ft, often 25 x 30 ft | 675 sq ft, often 15 x 45 ft |
| 5 marla | 1,361.25 sq ft | 1,250 sq ft, often 25 x 50 ft | 1,125 sq ft, often 25 x 45 ft |
| 8 marla | 2,178.00 sq ft | 2,000 sq ft, often 25 x 80 ft | 1,800 sq ft, often 30 x 60 ft |
| 10 marla | 2,722.50 sq ft | 2,500 sq ft, often 35 x 65 ft | 2,250 sq ft, often 35 x 65 ft at a shorter depth |
| 20 marla (1 kanal) | 5,445.00 sq ft | 5,000 sq ft, often 50 x 100 ft | 4,500 sq ft, often 50 x 90 ft |
Dimensions vary by phase and by city block, so treat the shapes as the common patterns rather than promises. The area, computed from the dimensions in your own allotment letter, is the figure that settles an argument.
Square feet to marla table
Contractors and covered-area quotes arrive in square feet, so the reverse table converts the round square foot values into marla under each standard.
| Square feet | Revenue | 250 standard | 225 standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 | 1.84 marla | 2.00 marla | 2.22 marla |
| 1,000 | 3.67 marla | 4.00 marla | 4.44 marla |
| 1,500 | 5.51 marla | 6.00 marla | 6.67 marla |
| 2,000 | 7.35 marla | 8.00 marla | 8.89 marla |
| 2,500 | 9.18 marla | 10.00 marla | 11.11 marla |
| 3,000 | 11.02 marla | 12.00 marla | 13.33 marla |
| 5,000 | 18.37 marla | 20.00 marla | 22.22 marla |
| 5,445 | 20.00 marla | 21.78 marla | 24.20 marla |
| 10,000 | 36.73 marla | 40.00 marla | 44.44 marla |
Marla against square yards, kanal, and acres
The wider table anchors the marla to the units that surround it in Pakistani property talk, worked at the revenue standard.
| Unit | Square feet | Square yards | Marla |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 marla | 272.25 | 30.25 | 1 |
| 1 kanal (20 marla) | 5,445 | 605 | 20 |
| 1 acre (8 kanal) | 43,560 | 4,840 | 160 |
| 1 square yard (gaz) | 9 | 1 | 0.03 |
Worked examples
5 marla at the revenue standard. Multiply 5 by 272.25 and the plot covers 1,361.25 sq ft. That is the figure a fard-based calculation supports, and it is the largest honest answer the words 5 marla can give.
10 marla at the 225 society standard. Multiply 10 by 225 and the plot covers 2,250 sq ft. The same words at the revenue standard give 2,722.50 sq ft, and the 472.50 sq ft between the two answers is roughly a bedroom and a bath.
5,445 sq ft back to marla. Divide 5,445 by 272.25 and the result is exactly 20 marla, one kanal. Surveyors use this identity as a sanity check, because a revenue-standard kanal that does not land on 5,445 sq ft signals a wrong standard somewhere in the chain.
The gap between standards, drawn to scale
The grouped bars below compare 5, 10, and 20 marla across the three standards, and the pattern matters more than any single bar: the gap grows with the plot.
At 5 marla the standards disagree by 236.25 sq ft between the widest and the narrowest. At 20 marla they disagree by 945 sq ft, which is a small plot in its own right. Price per marla means nothing until the standard is fixed, and price per square foot only becomes honest after the conversion.
Common mistakes
- Converting before choosing the standard. The standard is the first decision, and any number produced before it is a guess wearing a uniform. I made exactly this mistake on my father's file, in my own home, before those two papers taught me better.
- Comparing price per marla across societies. Two 10 marla plots can differ by 472.50 sq ft, so compare price per true square foot instead.
- Reading plot area as covered area. A contractor quotes on covered area, which follows the building footprint and floors, not the plot size on the file.
- Trusting the advertisement dimensions. Ads round fronts and depths, and the allotment letter carries the binding figures.
- Assuming a kanal is a kanal everywhere. A kanal holds 20 marla in every standard, and its square feet still swing from 4,500 to 5,445.
Why I built this converter
My father bought a 5 marla plot file years ago, and the number lived in my family as a settled fact that nobody questioned. Files get discussed at weddings in my circles. The plot was 5 marla, the way a person is five foot eight, and that was the end of the subject.
Years later I finally read two documents side by side: the society's allotment letter and an extract from the revenue map. Each paper described the same plot. Each paper, converted honestly, gave a different area, and the gap between them ran past 100 sq ft. My first reaction was anger, because a gap like that smells like a fraud. My second reaction, after a long evening with the size charts, was embarrassment. Nobody had cheated my family. The allotment letter used the society standard, the revenue extract used the revenue standard, and the word marla had quietly changed its meaning between the two sheets of paper.
That is the sentence I would carve over this whole subject if I could: the unit itself, not any person, had moved between the two papers. I keep both documents in a single folder now, side by side, because together they teach the lesson faster than either one teaches it alone.
The converter above puts the standard selector first because those two papers taught me the order of operations. Choose the standard your document uses, then convert, then argue. I now convert every plot figure twice, once per plausible standard, before I let anyone at the table have an opinion about a price, and I check the standard twice on any figure that arrives already converted by somebody else.
Read next
- Two papers, one plot: the day my father's 5-marla file stopped adding up
- Two 10 marla houses, 472 square feet apart: reading property ads honestly
- Standing in the plot with the patwari: karam, sarsahi, and a tape that starts at zero
- The corner plot premium: what the extra marla fraction is really worth
- My contractor quoted in square feet, my plan said marla: converting a house plan before signing
- Fard says one thing, the transfer letter says another: a cross-check routine that works
- My Karachi uncle prices land in gaz: translating square yards for a Lahore plot
- Rent per marla or per square foot: pricing two shops on the same street
- A boundary wall estimate from nothing but marla and a notebook
- Why 272.25: the odd decimal that runs Pakistani land
Questions people ask about this page
Which standard do DHA and Bahria use?
Housing societies allot plots under their own size charts, and many society plots follow the 250 or 225 sq ft marla instead of the revenue marla of 272.25 sq ft. The governing figure for any single plot is the size printed in that society's allotment letter for that phase. Always convert with the standard named in your own document.
Is 1 marla the same in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa records?
The revenue marla of 272.25 sq ft runs through the Punjab record system, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa records use their own district practices in places. A plot described across provinces deserves a fresh check of the local record before money moves. The converter prints the standard beside the result so the basis never hides.
How many marla are in a kanal under each standard?
A kanal holds 20 marla under every standard on this page. The square feet change instead: 5,445 sq ft at the revenue standard, 5,000 sq ft at the 250 standard, and 4,500 sq ft at the 225 standard. Two kanal plots in two societies can therefore differ by almost a thousand square feet.
Why is a 5 marla plot sold with different dimensions in different societies?
Each society draws its own plot grid, and the front and depth follow the roads and blocks of that phase. A 5 marla plot at the 225 standard often measures 25 by 45 ft, while a revenue-standard 5 marla carries a larger area on different dimensions. The marla count stays fixed and the shape absorbs the difference.
How do I check which standard my plot file uses?
Divide the square feet printed in your allotment letter by the marla count in the same letter. A quotient near 272.25 points to the revenue standard, and quotients near 250 or 225 point to a society standard. The revenue record (fard) for the same plot settles the question when the letter stays silent.
How many square feet is 1 marla?
One marla equals 272.25 sq ft under the revenue standard, 250 sq ft under one common society standard, and 225 sq ft under the other. The question has three correct answers, and the document in your hand decides which one applies. Pick the standard first in the converter above and the rest follows.
Facts, checked against trusted sources
- Under the revenue standard used in Punjab land records, one marla equals 272.25 sq ft and 20 marla make one kanal of 5,445 sq ft, which is 605 square yards. Source: Punjab Land Records Authority
- The marla sits inside a revenue measurement chain where one marla equals 9 sarsahi, and the kanal is built from the karam, a unit of 5.5 ft. Source: Board of Revenue Punjab, land measurement records
