What Do You Mean By Carpet Area, Super Built-Up Area, And Built-Up Area?

If you’re considering buying a home, you should be well aware of the vital terminologies used by real estate agents to avoid costly mistakes that may affect your prospects of getting property of your dreams. The terms carpet area, built-up area and super built-up area are often used by developers and brokers in India and more often than not these people take advantage of homebuyer’s lack of knowledge and exploit them. So, it is of utmost importance that you do your homework before you speak to your agent the next time. After all, the actual space purchased by you is the single-biggest determiner of the value of a property. The bigger the space, the higher the cost shoots up. Similarly, the smaller the space, the lower the cost. While it is simpler to calculate the monetary value of a piece of land, figuring out the right value for apartments and flats is much more complicated.

Carpet Area

Formula to calculate carpet area :
Carpet area = Area of bedroom + living room + balconies + toilets – the thickness of the inner walls

This is the most  literal and simple to understand. That area in the flat or the apartment, that can be covered using a carpet, is the carpet area, which means, the carpet area is the actual area you get for your use in your day-to-day life. This also means that the carpet area of the apartment/flat will not include the thickness of the inner walls, the space used in building the lobby, the elevator, the stairs, the play area, etc.

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 Real Estate (Regulation and Development), Act, 2016. However, it is always safe to get a  technical expert for visiting and calculating the area.

Built-up Area

Formula to calculate built-up area:
Built-up area = Carpet area + area of walls + area of balcony

The built-up area is the comprehensive area which is the sum of the carpet area and the thickness of walls of the housing unit. The area taken up by the balcony or terrace is also counted in this. In most cases, it constitutes about 70 to 80 percent of the super built-up area of the property. Though the percentage may fluctuate with respect to the project or the developer. Conversely, an addition of 10 to 15 per cent space to the carpet area becomes the built-up area.

Super Built-up Area

Formula to calculate the super built-up area:
Super built-up area = Built-up area + proportionate common area
or

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

Typically a housing society consists of some common areas. While the buyer has to pay a monthly maintenance charge for the upkeep of these areas, they will also have to spend on a proportionate part of these spaces at the time of the purchase. Builders generally use the loading factor (constructed spaces which aren’t exclusively given to the buyer) on the carpet area, to arrive at the super built-up area. Developers get 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. Sometimes, the builders even include general amenities such as pools, gardens and clubhouses, in the common area.