Differentiate between Carpet and Super Built up Area of a home

Just recently the Haryana RERA has issued new guidelines for the sale of residential properties in Haryana. They have mandated that in future all residential units will have to be sold on the basis of Carpet area of a unit rather than built up or super built up area of a unit. The authority remarked that the sale of flats on super built up areas amounted to cheating the innocent customers who are not aware of the intricacies of these three terms. So, they have ruled that the builders or developers will have to disclose the carpet area separately even if they  sell at the super area prices so that there is no confusion or ambiguity.

Most of the buyers are actually  not aware of the difference in the terminology of carpet area, built up area or super built up area. In actuality these terms can be misleading. So today in this blog we take a look at the difference in the three terms.

Carpet Area

The term carpet area is relatively very simple as it just means exactly what it denotes. The total area in a flat that if a carpet were to be laid floor to floor the carpet would occupy. These measurements are taken wall to wall and include the area covered by the internal walls. So, if the internal walls are thinner the actual size of the apartment would be that much bigger. RERA defines the Carpet area as the “net Usable area” of a residential accommodation. So, carpet area is the inner area of a flat measured from inner wall to inner wall in a flat. This area is not to include the balconies, kitchen, bathroom or the utility areas.

The Built-up Area

Now we take  look at the built-up area. The built-up area includes the measurement of the flat from outer wall to outer wall. That means that the thickness of the walls is added to the carpet area to form the built-up area and it includes the balcony area as well. Normally a built-up area is 10 t 15 % more than the actual carpet area of the flat. Let us say the carpet area of a flat is 500 sq. Ft and the balconies are 100 sq. Ft the built-up area should be around 690 sq. Ft. Built up area is to include the Balconies, bathrooms, shafts and the utility areas like staircase, veranda, wall thickness and terrace. Selling a residential unit according to the built-up area always covers the total material cost which has generally been used to construct the unit.

Super Built Up Area

Now we come to the concept of the super built up area.  The super area of a property is defined as the area covered by the flat plus all the utilities and the other common areas and amenities provided in the project. These include the Parks, lifts, garbage shafts, club house, swimming pool, playground, common staircases, gyms, tennis courts or badminton courts, basketball courts etc.  Each and every amenity is and can be included. Most of the time the concept of super area is not clear to the buyers who end up buying a flat on the assumption that this only includes the flat and the balcony areas. This then leads to unnecessary mutual litigation and another burden on the already heavily burdened legal system of the country.

So,  the new regulation by RERA to either sell residential units on basis of Carpet area rather than super built up area or Built up area is bound to lead to an increase in the selling prices of the properties in the region per se.  Either that or the curtailing of the currently being offered amenities in the fancy high rise projects. Again, a conundrum whether this will again lead to a heap of properties remaining unsold because of lesser amenities in the future.