What is Carpet Area, Built-Up Area and Super Built-Up Area?

For a home buyer in today’s world, having any doubts about the concept of the carpet area could prove to be highly detrimental. Despite the many nitty-gritties involved in the process, it all boils down to the space that the buyer will acquire, in exchange for money. This is why space calculations are the single-biggest determiner of the value of a property. Almost all big real estate developers flaunt the large carpet area offered by their units, as their unique selling point, ever since the real estate law made it incumbent up on them to sell homes based on the carpet area.  The larger the space, the higher the cost. Similarly, the smaller the space, the lower the cost.

Now, while it is much simpler to do the calculation if you were buying a piece of land or a plot, the same cannot be said about flat/apartment purchases. It is more complicated to have a precise idea about the space measurement in constructed units, a fact that real estate developers in India widely misused, by misinforming the buyers. That was, however, true before the Real Estate (Regulation and Development), Act, 2016 (RERA), came into force.

As how much you would spend on your property purchase depends immensely on how much space the builder is offering you through the flat or apartment, it becomes absolutely necessary to arm yourself with the knowledge of the various space-measuring benchmarks – carpet area, built-up area and super built-up area, which are often used in India in real estate transactions.

What is carpet area?

Let’s first understand what is the basic definition of carpet area, a term real estate developers are obliged to use when providing buyers the details about the property size. This is really quite literal and simple to understand. That area in the flat or the apartment, which you could cover using a carpet, is the carpet area.

What does carpet area include?

This means, the carpet area is the actual usable area you get for use in your home. This then implies that the carpet area of the apartment will not include the thickness of the inner walls, the space used in building the lobby, the elevator, the stairs, the play area, etc.

Formula to calculate carpet area

Carpet area = Area of bedroom + living room + balconies + toilets – the thickness of the inner walls

Definition of carpet area under RERA

Section 4 of the RERA says that every promoter shall make an application to the real estate regulatory authority, for registration of the real estate project, while providing, among other things, the carpet area of apartments for sale in the project, along with the area of the verandahs or exclusive balcony and the exclusive open terrace areas with the apartment.

While clearly prescribing real estate developers to sell apartments and flats in India based on this space-measuring benchmark, the real estate act (RERA) defines the carpet areas as “The net usable floor area of an apartment, excluding the area covered by the external walls, areas under services shafts, exclusive balcony or verandah area and exclusive open terrace area, but includes the area covered by the internal partition walls of the apartment.”

The Act also explains that the expression ‘exclusive balcony or verandah area’ refers to the area of the verandah or balcony, as the case may be, which is appurtenant to the net usable floor area of an apartment, meant for the exclusive use of the allottee. Additionally, according to the Act, ‘exclusive open terrace area’ refers to the area of that open terrace that is appurtenant to the net usable floor area of an apartment, meant for the exclusive use of the allottee.

What else does RERA say about carpet area?

While the builders are now legally obliged to mention the carpet area to measure and price units, provisions have also been made for the increase and decrease in its measurement, while developing an under-construction project. If the carpet area is reduced through the course of the construction, the builder will have to refund the excess amount within 45 days, with annual interest, to the buyer. In case of an increase in the carpet area, the developer can also ask the buyer to pay the excess amount. However, the RERA caps the upper limit of the increase in carpet area at not be more than 3%.

How to make sure you are not short-changed in terms of the carpet area?

If you are buying a project in a mega housing society, the builder will be obliged to tell you the carpet area of the unit under the provisions of the RERA. However, do get a technical expert to visit the flat and calculate the area. If you are applying for a home loan, the bank would send a technical expert to examine the unit. Check with them, if the carpet area, as told to you by the builder, is the same as assessed by them. In case of any discrepancies, you must point out this issue to the builder and renegotiate the price.

Another key thing to remember while purchasing a property, is to not get carried away by the built-up area or super built-up area numbers, in case the carpet area is not to your liking. At the end of the day, the carpet area is the actual area you would be using in your day-to-day life. Make sure there is a perfect balance among the thee numbers, with the carpet area claiming the highest share.

What is built-up area?

The built-up area in your flat or apartment, is the carpet area plus the area that is covered by the inner walls and the balcony. In housing apartments in India, nearly 30% of a housing unit’s entire area is used in creating the inner walls and the balconies. This means that if the developers tells you that the built-up area of the units is 1,000 sq ft, you could assume that the net usable area or carpet area of the apartment will not exceed 700 sq ft.

Formula to calculate built-up area

Built-up area = Carpet area + area of walls + area of balcony

What is super built-up area?

A housing society consists of various common areas. While the buyer has to pay a monthly maintenance charge for the upkeep of these areas, he will also have to shell out money for a proportionate part of these spaces at the time of the purchase. Builders typically use the loading factor – constructed spaces not exclusively allocated to the buyer – on the carpet area, to arrive at the super built-up area. Developers arrive at the super-built up area of a unit by way of adding the total built-up area with the area occupied by common areas, including the corridor, the lift lobby, the elevator, etc. In some cases, builders even include amenities such as pools, gardens and clubhouses, in the common area.

Before the RERA made it mandatory for builders to sell flats based on carpet area, they widely used the super-built-up area as the space-measuring unit, to cash in on the lack of clarity on space calculation. The use of super built-up area as the measuring unit, helped them to lower the per sq ft cost of the property. It also gave the buyer a false impression that they were investing in a large home when they actually were not.

“Super built-up area is the big number, which developers prefer to market their projects with. It is the number they arrive at, by adding common areas with built-up areas. Super built-up area is also known as the saleable area, because it becomes a yardstick for developers to quote their buyers,” explains Vijay Verma, CEO, Sunworld Group. With more than one apartment on a floor, the calculation of super built-up area is done differently, he adds.

Suppose a house with a carpet area of 1,000 sq ft is priced at Rs 2,000 per sq ft. In such a scenario, the overall cost of the property will be Rs 20,00,000. To make the marketing pitch even more attractive, a developer will provide the super built-up area (let’s say, 1,300 sq ft) and price the property lower at, say, Rs 1,800 per sq ft. In this scenario, the overall cost of the property will be Rs 23.40 lakhs. To a naïve buyer, the latter would any day sound way more attractive than the former.

Formula to calculate super built-up area

Super built-up area = Built-up area + proportionate common area

Or

Super built-up area = Carpet area (1+loading factor)

Note: The loading would be in the range of 15% to 50%, depending on builder and the exact location.

Super built-up area calculation example

When there are more than one apartments on a floor, the super built-up area is calculated in a different manner.

Let us assume that on the fifth floor of a housing society, Sanjay Mehta owners an apartment with a built-up area of 1,000 sq ft. On the same floor, Amit Lal owns an apartment with a built-up area of 2,000 sq ft. The total common area on the floor is 1,500 sq ft.

Now, to calculate the super built-up area of the two apartments, the builder would divide in the ratio of the apartments’ built-up areas (in this case 1:2) add 500 sq ft extra space in Mehta’s total built-up area and 1,000 sq ft extra in Lal’s built-up area. Now, the super built-up area of Mehta’s apartment is 1,500 sq ft and Lal’s is 3,000 sq ft.

Can buyers refuse to pay for an increase in carpet area by the builder?

There have been various instances, where the builder increases the overall price of the property, because of some changes in the plan and an increase in the carpet area. Under the provisions of the RERA, the buyer is liable to pay the additional charges. The Maharashtra RERA recently also made it clear that the buyer is liable to pay the extra money, while giving its verdict in a case filed by Ashley Neil Serrao and Mark Clement Serrao, who had purchased a unit in Runwal Greens by Propel Developers Pvt Ltd.

“The increase in the carpet area is being charged on a proportional basis with respect to the consideration price of the apartment and that being covered in the agreement for sale, cannot be termed as a breach of the agreement for sale,” the MahaRERA order said.

Tips to calculate the usable area of your future house

Always ask the builder about the carpet area of the property and negotiate the priced based on this number. So that there is absolutely no scope for any manipulation on this front, you might seek the help of a private technical assessor to re-confirm the carpet area in the property. Those who are buying the property with the help of housing finance are, in fact, better placed, as the bank would send its own legal and technical assessors, to check out the specifications of the property.

Another point to note here that that even if a builder is quoting the property price based on the carpet area, they would typically increase the per sq ft cost, in order to cover up for the built-up and super built-up area. Try to find out the pricing in similar projects in that area, to confirm if the quoted price by your builder is alright. If not, there is scope for the buyer to negotiate the deal and try to get the prices reduced.

We hope this clears up the confusion that always seems to permeate floor areas and how prices are calculated, making it easier for you to make decisions. Got more questions? Ask us below!

Here’s Part 2 of Real Estate Basics, where we talk about OSR, FSI, Loading and Construction Stages.

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News updates

Haryana RERA issues regulations to sell flats only on carpet area

The Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (HARERA), on April 27, 2021, said that builders can sell apartments in their projects only on the basis of carpet area. While stating that the sale of flats on a super area or any other bench will be treated as fraudulent and an unfair trade practice, the state RERA said penal proceedings would be initiated against builders for violating these instructions.

“The property in real estate projects is not properly described by way of mentioning super area without specifically giving details and breakup of the components included in the super area. The practice of sale of the real estate on super area basis is misleading, ambiguous, opaque and gives rise to confusion and complexities and at times results into avoidable litigation,” said Haryana RERA chairman KK Khandelwal.

“The practice of sale of real estate on super area basis is misleading, ambiguous, opaque, and gives rise to confusion and complexities, and at times, triggers avoidable litigation,” Khandelwal added.

While stating that the term has been clearly defined in the RERA, he said the definition of carpet area as provided under Section 2(K) of the Act means the net usable floor area.

“Externals wall, service shafts, balcony, verandah and open terrace have been excluded from the definition of carpet area. However, the internal partition walls of the apartment are not excluded as they form a part of the integral structure that is the carpet area,” he said.

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