How is carpet, built-up and super built-up area calculated?

If you are in the process of buying a house, you are likely to encounter terms such as carpet area, built-up area and super built-up area. These are different ways of defining the area of a property. Here’s what these terms mean.

Carpet area

 As the name suggests, it is the area of a flat that can be covered by a carpet. More precisely, this is the net usable area (NUA) of a flat which includes the living and dining rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms and the kitchen. However, under the Rera (Real Estate Regulatory Authority) Act, the carpet area is defined a bit differently – it is the NUA plus the area taken up by the internal partition walls of the flat. 

The carpet area excludes the external walls of a flat, the external areas such as your balconies, verandas and terrace meant for your exclusive use, and common areas such as lifts, corridors, clubhouse, etc. “It is the private space of the home owner and does not have to be shared with the other occupants of the building or the housing society,” says Rakesh Agarwal, senior vice president, India Sotheby’s International Realty. He adds, “Typically, the carpet area is 60-70% of the super built-up area in residential housing projects with several amenities and open space.” 

Built-up area

This is calculated as the carpet area plus the area covered by walls, balconies, terrace and exclusive corridors, if any, all meant for the home owner’s exclusive use. The built-up area excludes all common areas such as lifts, corridors, clubhouse, etc. 

Super built-up area

This is also referred to as the saleable area. It is calculated as the built-up area plus your proportionate share in all the common areas including the lifts, corridors, clubhouse, etc. Every homebuyer holds a proportionate share in the common areas meant for use by all the home owners. 

Let’s assume there is an apartment building with two flats with respective built-up areas of 500 sq ft and 1,000 sq ft and a common area of 1,200 sq ft. Then, the common area will be split proportionately into 400 sq ft and 800 sq ft (1,200 sq ft divided in a 1:2 ratio) and get added to the respective built-up areas to arrive at the super built-up areas of 900 sq ft and 1,800 sq ft, respectively for the two flats. 

According to Santhosh Kumar, vice chairman – ANAROCK Group, selling properties on the basis of super-built-up area is now illegal and only carpet area is a valid ‘denomination’. 

“The hitherto conventional practice of developers charging homebuyers on the basis of the super built-up area no longer works. Under the Rera Act, the quoted price has to be mandatorily based on the carpet area of the property,” says Kumar.