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Blog // Essential Guides
January 29th, 2020

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

Homebuying is an exhilarating yet strenuous process that demands careful planning and research. Be it finding a reputable builder, suitable location, or getting to know the unfamiliar terminologies in the industry, the home buying process requires patience. Most of the jargon used within this sector are unknown to first-time homebuyers. If you are a prospective homebuyer in pursuit of a fair deal, you will very often come across terms like Built-up area, Super built-up area, and Carpet area that are used quite frequently by your real estate agent. As they describe the area inside the house at your disposal and have considerable implications on the price you pay for the property, you do not want to be at a loss when you chance upon these terms during the course of your purchase. 

Here is a list of terms that you need to be familiar with as far as the area of your house is concerned. 

What is Carpet Area?

Carpet area is the area inside the inner walls of an apartment, that is, it is the total space that can be utilized by the residents. This makes the term significant to homebuyers as carpet area is the area that decides how much area is at your disposal. It does not include areas like lobby, lifts, play area or staircases. If you are planning to buy a house in Chennai, the TNRERA regulations would make your life easier by mandating the disclosure of the accurate carpet area to the homebuyers before purchase. 

What is Built-up Area? 

The built-up area is the sum of the carpet area and the area of the walls and pillars, along with the area of the balcony or terrace. The area of the wall, which refers to the thickness of the inner walls, constitutes 20 per cent of the built-up area. 70% of the built-up area is the carpet area of the house. The built-up area is usually 10–15 per cent greater than the carpet area of the house.  

What is Super Built-up Area? 

The super built-up area is the sum of the built-up area of the house and all the common areas. It is also called the saleable area because this is what builders charge you for. It is important to ask your builder what the ratio of carpet area to the super built-up area is. The higher the ratio, the greater the space inside your property at your disposal. 

Common areas are the areas available to more than one person for use. In other words, these are the spaces that are used by all the owners and tenants of an apartment complex. Rightfully, this area belongs to every tenant but this is a right that can only be enjoyed in commonality. It is the owners who pay for the upkeep of these areas. The common areas include:

  • the lobby 
  • the staircase 
  • the lift 
  • community swimming pools 
  • laundry facilities
  • sidewalks
  • parking spaces
  • corridors

Let us consider an example to understand these terminologies better.

Assume that your house has a layout similar to the image above. Let’s say that the house has a carpet area of 1000 sq. ft. , total wall area of 200 sq. ft. and a common area of 1000 sq. ft. (common area is the sum of the areas of lift lobby, corridor, lift, and staircase).

The carpet area is the net usable area inside the house, excluding the area of the walls.

Carpet Area = Sum of the area of the kitchen + living room + balcony + bedroom + toilet = 1000 sq. ft.

Bult-up Area = Sum of Carpet Area + Wall Area

                     = 1000 sq. ft. + 200 sq. ft

                     = 1200 sq. ft.

Super Built-up Area = Built-up Area + Common Area 

                                 = 1200 + 1000 sq. ft.   

                                 = 2200 sq. ft.                                                                                                                               

To make sure that a house is worth every penny, a homebuyer should devote his attention to every detail of the property. The usable area in the house is as important as its location, amenities, price, or the community. Understanding these terms and their nuances will definitely help a homebuyer become better equipped and informed during the course of the purchase.