The new homebuyers often face a dilemma to understand the new terms related to real estate properties. The jargons might have the simplest words but are really technical to understand in the first place. This is why there are a few terms that need to be understood while dealing with a realtor or an agent.

You might have found yourself clueless often when these jargons are put in front of you. The real estate agents or developers often forget or intend to intimidate the customers by using such words. In fact, it has also been found that these words are often misused. The most confusing words are related to the floor space of a property. They might sound different but the meaning is not defined by the words used to describe the concept. Read below for the proper clarification of the words used to define different types of area in the real estate industry.

About Carpet Area

After the Real Estate Regulatory Act (RERA) in india, This is often misunderstood by a newbie. Think it this way. The area covered when a carpet is used can be defined as the carpet area. It means that the maximum area on the floor you can cover excluding the walls is called the carpet area. In a word, the livable space within the apartment or the house is called its carpet area. In this aspect, the common space in lobbies, lifts, community halls, garage, etc are not calculated. This is why the experts always suggest using the carpet area as the parameter to make your final decision so that you can understand what you are getting into. Usually, the carpet area is calculated as 70% of the entire area of a single-floor house.

How to Calculate Carpet Area of House?

There are several ways of calculating carpet area. Firstly, you should know that carpet area is 70 per cent of built-up area. For instance, assuming that the built-up area is 1,000 sq ft, your carpet area should be 70 per cent off 1,000 sq ft, which is, in this case, is 700 sq ft. So your carpet area is 700 sq ft.

Carpet area = Area that can be covered by a carpet inside your apartment

About Built-Up Area

This particular term represents the total area of the apartment or a house considering the wall thickness. As per the common notion, 20% of this count belongs to the walls. In fact, the authorities have mandated to add dry balcony area, flower beds, etc to this count. For instance, if an apartment has 1200 square feet of built-up area, the usable portion will be 840 square feet as you will have to subtract 360 square feet for the walls and balconies.

How to Calculate Built-up Area of House ?

Logically, built-up area = carpet area + areas covered by walls. Generally, it is 10-15 per cent more than the carpet area. This can be understood with this following example.

Suppose, areas covered as dry balcony, terraces add up to the 10 per cent of the built-up area while the usable area is just 70 per cent of the built-up area. So, if built up area is 1,000 sq ft, it implies that 30 per cent i.e. the 300 sq ft is not usable while 700 sq ft is the remaining area that will be used.

Built up area = Carpet area + area covered by walls.

About Super Built-Up Area

This particular term depicts the area of the apartment i.e. built-up area along with the common spaces such as corridor, lobbies, lift lobby, clubhouse, swimming pool, garden, etc. These amenities will be included in the pricing strategy as the homeowner in a project will use them all. The developers put a rate on the apartments considering the super built-up area. This is why it is also called ‘saleable area’.

How to Calculate super built-up area

Since super built-up area factors in the common areas such as elevator, veranda, clubhouse, etc, developers consider 1.25 as a multiplying factor to calculate super built-up area. This increases the total saleable area by 25 per cent. This percentage is called loading. Few developers tend to quote loading figueres while computing saleable area. For instance, if the carpet area is 600 sq ft, the builder adds loading of 30 per cent, you have to pay for 780 sq ft, whereas you are using just 600 sq ft.

Super Built up area = Built up area + Common area

Final Words

These terms should be known to a homebuyer so that the concept is clear. The actual usable area will determine the decision of a homebuyer but the price will have to be paid using the super built-up area. The compatibility of the apartment will be determined based on the carpet area. The base price of the assets is calculated using the super built-up area. An apartment with more amenities will attract a bigger price.