According to 1981 census, there were 10,491 houses in Kohlu district. Precise data are not available about the housing. According to personal observation, most of the people live in tents, huts or single-room houses. The nomadic lifestyle of the inhabitants does not allow them to built permanent houses.

Almost all of the houses are occupied by their owners themselves. A few houses and shops are rented out in towns of Kohlu, Mawand and Kahan.

No significant change can be observed in the construction material used for buildings. Still mud and un-baked bricks are used for the construction of houses. Many people live in huts and tents. The walls of these huts are made of stones and the roofs are made of mazri or mats and shrubs. Tents are prepared by a structure made of sticks and covered by a cloth prepared from sheep wool. Only some government buildings are made of baked bricks. Roofs in such buildings are constructed using RCC or iron girders and kiln bricks or tiles.

Fuel wood and dung cakes are used for cooking and heating. Dried bushes also serve the same purpose. Fuel wood is collected from woodlands of the district by men, women and children. Very few people use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). LPG is not available in Kohlu thus the people bring it either from Dera Ghazi Khan or Loralai.

The majority of the population uses kerosene oil lamps for lighting. Electricity is available in 4 towns only and is mainly used for lighting. However the advent of electricity has facilitated running of tubewells as well and, consequently, the agriculture sector has developed. Up to mid 1997, a total of 528 domestic, 135 commercial and 24 agricultural connections have been provided in the district.

The data provided by the 1981 Census Report of Kohlu Agency include figures about Sui sub-division as well and thus are hard to apply to the district today. However, it can be observed that most of the houses are without separate kitchen and bathroom facilities. Latrines are not available in most of the houses and flush system latrines are a rare exemption. Most of the houses are single-room units and many a people live in hut type structures. Boundary walls are constructed by big landowners only.

To date, the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) has completed 35 water supply schemes in Kohlu, out of which 10 are not functional. Only 18.4 percent of the population has access to safe drinking water through PHED schemes. The rest of the population uses water from open surface wells, streams and springs. In 6 water supply schemes, drinking water is supplied to the houses through pipelines and house connections; and in the remaining schemes community tanks or stand posts have been constructed at central places from where people fetch water. In case the source of drinking water is not located inside the house, it is usually the duty of women and children to fetch water for household needs.

The Water and Sanitation Section of the Local Government and Rural Development Department (LG&RDD) has installed 50 deep well hand pumps (on open surface wells) for drinking water in Kohlu. The project has also provided 100 house latrines out of which 95 have been installed. As a whole no sewerage and solid waste disposal system exists in the district.