Understanding Carpet, Built Up and Super Built Up Area

When you buy a house, you typically pay by the number of square feet. But square feet of what? Sellers generally charge you for the carpet area, and sometimes the super built up area, as the case may be. 

How does it work? And what is meant by built up area? In this article, we will decode what is carpet area, what is built up area, what is super built up area; what is the difference between carpet area and built up area; how to calculate carpet area; how to calculate built up area, what is carpet area as per RERA; super built up area to carpet area conversion, super built up area meaning, and so on. 

Read on to get a clear understanding of these aspects.

Carpet Area Meaning

So what does carpet area include? Carpet area refers to the wall-to wall area that can be covered by a carpet. The entire built up space minus the exterior walls and exterior staircases is what constitutes the carpet area. It includes the thickness of the inner walls. That is to say, carpet is the area inside the exterior walls of the house. 

Usually, carpet area constitutes about 70% of the built up area. So, for example, if the built up area is 1000 sq ft, the carpet area would be 700 sq ft. Usually houses are priced based on carpet area. Take care to ask the seller for the break up of carpet area and built up area.

However, according to some sellers, inner walls may be excluded from carpet area.

Does Carpet Area Include Balcony? 

The carpet area generally does include balcony.  This works to your advantage, as you may not be charged for it, but later on you can convert it into carpet area, subject to permissions from homeowners associations and other regulatory authorities.  If you wish to optimise space utilization,  you can merge  balcony space with the room it is attached to, and thereby  increase the room carpet space.  Alternately, you could also  convert a balcony into a bathroom if need be. Or may be into a study or work-from-home space, where you can have the privacy and the quiet to attend Zoom calls.

How to Calculate Carpet Area

Inner wall area + floor area = Carpet area.

Multiplying the length and width of each room, inner walls, inner corridors, etc., and then adding them all up would give you the carpet area of the house. You can refer to the house plan document for calculating carpet area, and additionally, once the walls are done, you can measure with a tape and verify.

Carpet Area as Per RERA

According to RERA,  ‘carpet area’ refers to ‘the net usable floor area of an apartment, excluding the area covered by the external walls, areas under services shafts, exclusive balcony or verandah area and exclusive open terrace area, but includes the area covered by the internal partition walls of the apartment’.

Built Up Area Meaning

Built up area refers to the sum of the carpet area, plus the area taken by both exterior walls and interior walls, balcony, and also exterior staircase and corridor if any. Built up area may also include any exclusive terrace, if any, and constitutes about 70% to 80% of the super built up area.

How to Calculate Built Up Area 

Carpet area + Wall area + exclusive balcony + exclusive corridor = Built up area.

Difference Between Carpet Area and Built Up Area

To put it in simple terms, the difference between carpet area and built up area boils down to the area inside the four walls as opposed to the area both inside as well as outside the four walls that belong exclusively to the owner of the property.

Super Built Up Area Meaning

Super built up area,also called ‘saleable’ area,  refers to the sum of the exclusive built up area and common areas such as lift, common corridors, staircase, clubhouse and other amenities as applicable. 

Sellers may charge you for the common areas, and thus what you pay for would be the super built up area. The proportionate share of common area is referred to as loading factor and is assigned a percentage usually ranging from 25% to 30% of carpet area. The total sale value would be based on the sum of the carpet area and the loading factor.

For example, if the carpet area is 1000 sq ft., and if the loading factor is determined as 25%, then the super built up area would be 1250 sq ft.

Any car parking space allocated exclusively to property owners is excluded from super built up area, or even built up area.

Super Built Up Area to Carpet Area Converter

To convert super built up area to carpet area, calculate the area taken by the loading factor, and deduct that from the super built up area.

For example:

Super built up area = 1300 sq ft

Loading factor = 30%

Area taken by loading factor would = 1300 x 30 / 100 =  390 sq ft

Carpet area = 1300 - 390 = 910 sq. ft.

Ultimately, What Is It That You Pay For?

As mentioned earlier, sellers usually charge for carpet area, if there are no big amenities involved.  In gated communities, for example,  that usually include a host of amenities, sellers charge for super built-up area.  

Now that you have a clear understanding of what is meant by carpet area, what is built up area, and what is super built up area, take care to ask the seller the right questions when you buy a house.  Make sure to find out if the area mentioned to you is the carpet area, or the super built up area.  If they are charging you for the super built up area, take care to ask what the loading factor is.  Verify this against the drawings of the house, and also take a tape and measure the inner spaces.