Know About Rera Carpet Area, Built-Up Area, Super Built-Up Area, and Usable Area
Last Updated on, September 12th, 2022
Real estate is a complex industry filled with jargon. Buying a property can often lead to a crash course in real estate. Carpet area, RERA carpet area, built-up area, super built-up area – the list goes on!
When you’re buying a home, the most important thing you want to know is how much space you’re buying! We’re here to help simplify these concepts and clarify exactly what you should look at while buying a home.
All these terms are used to define the area and size of an apartment. If you’re buying a residential property, it is vital to understand all these terms and also the difference between them, to avoid getting confused.
This article is a detailed guide to help you understand these terms and what they convey.
What is the Carpet Area?
In simple words, a carpet area is the actual usable area of a flat or literally where you can spread a carpet!. It does not include external common areas, like lifts, staircases, and lobbies. This is the most useful metric for a homebuyer.
As per RERA (Real Estate Regulatory Act),, the prices of the property should be based on the carpet area. Sounds straightforward, right? But this is where it gets a little tricky.
RERA Carpet Area vs Useable Carpet Area
The definition of carpet area as per RERA, which we will call RERA carpet area going forward is ‘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.’
RERA carpet area is a useful measure for clients but may differ from the useable carpet area of an apartment because it includes interior walls of the apartment and also excludes certain areas like enclosed balconies, terraces and some other useable areas which are a part of the flat.
Useable carpet area is a measure that excludes walls and includes all the areas where you can spread a ‘carpet’.
The below diagrams illustrate the difference between the useable and RERA carpet area.
For example, an enclosed balcony is a technical term used in approvals. An enclosed balcony is actually a part of your room and is useable but is declared as a balcony that has been ‘enclosed’ in approvals for FSI concessions – this is perfectly valid and legal, however under the definition of RERA carpet area, this area is excluded even though it is a part of your useable carpet area.
Pro tip: While RERA carpet area is important, useable carpet area is a more useful measure for you as a customer. While comparing projects, check the useable carpet area and not just the RERA carpet area as this will allow an apples-to-apples comparison of the actual space you will be getting.
You can compute useable carpet area by measuring and totaling all the spaces inside your flat.
Importance of RERA Carpet Area
Under the RERA Act, developers are now bound to mention the carpet area and charge prices as per the carpet area and not the super built-up area.
If you have booked an under-construction property, there are also provisions made on an increase or decrease in its measurement. If the carpet area is decreased during the construction, a developer has to refund the excess amount along with an annual interest to the buyer within 45 days. If there is an increase in carpet area, the buyer needs to pay the excess amount to the developer. However, RERA has set a limit on this and the increase cannot be more than 3% of the carpet area promised earlier.
What Is Built-Up Area and Super-Built-Up Area?
Fortunately, these terms are becoming increasingly obsolete, especially when it comes to new property. However, you may still come across these terms, especially when dealing with older resale property.
What is Built-up Area?
The built-up area of your flat is the carpet area, along with the area covered by inner walls and the balcony. It includes unusable areas like balconies, flower beds, terraces, etc.
In housing apartments in India, the built-up area can be 20-30% more than the carpet area. It is always higher than the carpet area.
In general, the carpet area of a flat is 70-75% of its built-up area. If the built-up area of the property is 2000 sq ft, its carpet area would be 1400-1500 sq ft.
Formula to Calculate Built-up Area
Built-Up Area = Carpet area + area of walls + area of the balcony
What Is Super Built-up Area?
When you’re buying a house, the developer is not building just your flat, he is also building common areas like lobbies, passages etc, so builders would also charge you for a portion of this development. This was the logic behind super-built up area. Before RERA was introduced, developers used to sell flats based on the super built-up area.
Super built-up area is the net saleable area that includes carpet area along with a proportion of the areas covered by lift, balcony, wall, terrace and staircase. In some cases, common amenities like a swimming pool, garden and clubhouse are also included in the super built-up area. The loading factor on the carpet area is used to measure the super built-up area.
Loading Factor
The difference between the super built-up area and the carpet area of your flat is known as the loading factor. The builder has to recover the cost of all facilities or amenities provided in the project. The loading includes shared facilities like elevators, lobbies, staircases, terraces and balconies.
The loading factor of a project is directly proportional to its amenities. If the residential project does not have many amenities, the loading factor will be small.
Formula to Calculate Loading Factor
Super built-up area = Carpet area * (1 – loading factor)
If the loading factor is 1.3, it means that your developer has added 30% to your carpet area. In that case, the super built-up area is 1300 sq ft and the carpet area would be 1000 sq ft.
FAQs
RERA Carpet area includes the area covered by the bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom, and inner walls.
No, as per RERA, builders can only sell on the basis of the RERA carpet area.
Useable carpet area is the best metric to make an apples-to-apples comparison of flats.
No. Car parking is never included in the area of the flat. It is sold along with the flat and hence, the rate of the car parking is a lump sum amount.
Bottom Line
Occupancy certificate is one of the most important approvals of a project. As a property owner, you should check that the property you buy has an OC. At Marathon, we are committed to transparency and share all the essential details of our projects upfront.
