LEGAL observation on super built up area of flat for charging for cost of flat
1.SEEKING SHELTER FROM THE LAW
Buying a flat? Know your rights!
by S D Israni
For an average citizen in India, purchasing a flat is one of the most important decisions of his life. In fact, it is a dream which many are unable to realise due to lack of personal resources, though in recent years, to an extent, housing finance companies have played a significant role in meeting the financial needs of the middle-class citizens aspiring to acquire their own apartments.
Buying a flat in India is fraught with so many risks that a buyer actually rejoices if he manages to get the flat as per the original terms and conditions stipulated in the agreement for sale. After all it is not uncommon, or one may dare say that it is a rampant practice, of builders going back on their word by delaying the possession of the flat, asking for increase in rate or cheating in built-up area. The hapless middle-class buyer who, apart from investing his life's savings, has to take recourse to substantial loans to enable him to buy a small shelter, finds himself in an unenviable position.
In this context the question that arises is: what happens if the builder reneges on his agreement in any manner including delay in giving possession, asking for additional amount beyond the agreed price, failing to give the agreed parking lot or cheating on the built-up area by giving a small or carpet area?
At the outset, it may be said that now buyers of residential premises are fortunate that they have the protection of an enactment like Consumer Protection Act, 1986. The Act specifically provides that any deficiency in service in respect of a residential premises can be taken up before the pertinent consumer forum and the guilty builders can be brought to book.
Initially, builders had strongly resisted the attempts of buyers to take them to consumer courts by contending that consumer courts lacked jurisdiction in the matter. Even after the Supreme Court's decision in the case involving Lucknow Development Authority, confirming the jurisdiction of the consumer courts in this regard, builders continued to raise the issue of jurisdiction. Finally, the government put an end to the matter by adding the words 'housing construction' to the definition of 'service' under clause (o) of Sec. 2(1) of the Act. In other words, now the law itself specifically provides that services relating to housing construction fall within the purview of the Consumer Protection Act.
Sometime ago, a case came up for consideration, by way of an appeal, before the National Commission, New Delhi (P R Menon v P A Construction), in which the complainant had purchased a flat on an understanding that he would be allotted a car parking space on the ground floor of the building at the rate of Rs 400 per sq ft. The builder, instead, informed the complainant that he could allot him a garage space at the rate of Rs 500 per sq ft. The complainant filed a complaint under the Consumer Protection Act, before the State Commission, Chennai, seeking a direction to the builder to provide him a car-parking space or garage at the rate of Rs 400 per sq ft, along with a compensation of Rs 3 lac.
However, the complainant was dejected when the State Commission rejected his complaint. The commission held that the agreement related to the purchase of a parking space and, it being an immovable property, fell within the purview of Transfer of Property Act. Consequently, the complainant was told to file a suit for specific performance in a civil court as the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act had no application in respect of the sale of immovable property.
The complainant, not satisfied, appealed against the said order to the National Commission. After hearing the counsel for both the parties, the National Commission held that the State Commission was not right in dismissing the complaint on the ground that, as the case related to the agreement of sale for immovable property, it was within the purview of the Transfer of Property Act and not under the Consumer Protection Act.
The National Commission observed that where statutory bodies like housing and development boards or private builders were engaged in serving the public in the matter of sites, construction of houses thereon and allotment of plots/houses to the public, they were clearly engaged in rendering service for consideration to the public, and those who were allotted plots/houses were 'consumers' falling under the definition given in Sec. 2 (1)(d)(ii) of the Consumer Protection Act. This view of the National Commission has already been upheld by the Supreme Court in the matter of Lucknow Development Authority. The National Commission also noted that the complainant had purchased a flat in the building constructed by the builder and, therefore, he was a 'consumer' as defined in the Consumer Protection Act. The National Commission also opined that though the grievance of the complainant relates to the purchase of car-parking space and garage, the case had to be viewed in a larger perspective. For the beneficial enjoyment of the flat the complainant wanted a car-parking space and he had clearly stated that the flat was purchased by him with the specific understanding that he would be allotted one car-parking space on the ground floor of the said building. Thus, the builder offered the car-parking space to the complainant as part of the service already rendered by him while providing the flat to the complainant. Eventually, the National Commission held that the purchase of the car-parking space cannot be taken as a separate contract for purchase of some immovable property. So, for the purchase of the car-parking space, the complainant will be deemed to be a consumer of service from the builder.
In another case, one Mehta had booked a flat having a super built-up area of 100 sq ft on the first floor in a building proposed to be constructed by a builder [S C Mehta (Retd), Delhi, v Jaina Properties (P) Ltd., New Delhi]. He paid the required sum of Rs 69,478 in installments from time to time.
In the course of time, the flat was ready and its formal possession was delivered to Mehta. After taking possession, he discovered that the actual usable area allotted to him was much less than the total area of 100 sq ft booked by him. Being aggrieved, he approached the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Commission, claiming compensation of Rs 2,21,927 for the loss suffered by him. The application was heard by a bench of the commission. The bench members differed in their opinions; the case was referred to the chairman of the commission for his decision.
The counsel on behalf of the builder contended that the applicant, having taken possession of the flat in question without any objection, could not turn round and assert that he has been a victim of unfair trade practice.
The then chairman of the commission, Justice A.N. Varma, observed that the facts as to the total super area allotted to the applicant as against the actual usable area eventually delivered to the applicant were not in dispute. It was also not seriously disputed that the actual usable area allotted to the applicant was much less than two-third of the stipulated super area.
The chairman further clarified that builders should not take away more than 33% of the stipulated area under the guise or by way of common area. And, if they do so, they would be guilty of manipulation of the conditions of delivery/prices within the meaning of Sec. 2(o)(ii) of the MRTP Act. Consequently, the chairman held that the builder had indulged in restrictive trade practices falling under Sec. 2(o)(ii) of the MRTP Act.
Unfortunately, not many consumers are aware of their rights as well as duties in this regard. There is an urgent need to educate prospective buyers of properties and put them on guard so that they don't become easy victims at the hands of rapacious builders who are out to gobble their hard-earned money. This is particularly necessary in the case of middle- and lower middle-class citizens who lack financial resources as well as sound advice. Consequently, such buyers become sitting ducks for the unscrupulous builders. Today, with remedies available under the Consumer Protection Act and MRTP Act, buyers of residential flats should not hesitate in filing complaints if the concerned builders commit any deficiency in services in connection with the residential premises purchased by them.
However, buyers should ensure that the complaint is filed in the right forum. If the amount involved is upto Rs 5 lac, the complaint should be filed with the concerned District Forum. For amounts exceeding Rs 5 lac but not exceeding Rs 20 lac, the complaint should be filed with the State Commission located in the capital of every state. For amounts exceeding Rs 20 lac, the complaint has to be filed directly with the National Commission, New Delhi. Moreover, buyers should note that any such complaint in respect of residential premises has to be filed within a maximum period of two years of the date of taking possession of the premises, otherwise it would be too late to seek any remedy under the Consumer Protection Act.
The writer is member, central council, Institute of Company Secretaries of India. The views expressed by the author are his own and not those of the ICSI. e-mail: sdisrani@usa.net
calculation of super area of flat
1.What Is Covered Area, Carpet Area,Built Up Area And Super Built Up Area In A House
Posted on January 2, 2011
Whenever we go for purchasing a flat, we tend to get confused when we hear a number of jargons, like covered area, carpet area, built up area, super built up area to name a few, by real estate agents. Its not so difficult to be fooled in such rhetorics and these are one of the most common places where you can be(and in fact will be if you are not alert) cheated by builders. This tutorial makes an attempt to help all prospective house-buyers in understanding these terms.
■Covered Area : This is the Actual Area under the roof.
■Carpet Area : As its name suggests, Carpet Area is the area where we can spread a carpet, means area calculated from inner wall to wall distance inside the house. This would also include steps if any, inside the house. So essentially, Carpet area is nothing but the net usable area inside the house.
■Built up Area : Built up area is Carpet Area + Area of walls and ducts+ 1/2 the Area of terrace. This is usually 10% more than the carpet area. A terrace is considered as half the actual area for calculating built up area.
■Super Built up Area : This is built up area + area occupied by common amenities like lifts, corridors, awnings, club house, stairs. Super built up is usually around 25% more than Built up area. This is also called as Salable Area.
So next time you go around searching for a house and a property agent talks about these jargons, you know exactly what he is talking about !! If they are selling you a 1400 sq ft flat, then it doesn’t necessarily mean, you are getting 1400 sq ft for personal usage. Here 1400 sq ft is super built up area or salable area. In reality, the actual usable area, that you might be getting, could possibly be only 1000 sq ft !! Let’s do the maths backwards
Carpet Area : 1000 sq ft
Built Up Area : will be ~ 10% more than carpet area, so it comes to 1000+100 = 1100 sq ft
Super Built Up Area : will be ~ 25% more than built up area, so it comes to 1100 + 280(~ 300) = 1400 sq ft.
You can see, even though you are buying a 1400 sq ft flat, you are only getting 1100 sq ft, as the remaining means 300 sq ft is nothing but area of your common usage like lifts, garden, stairs etc !! So if you want to compare two flats rate-wise, a rule-of-thumb would be to calculate carpet area first and then compare, how much you are paying per sq feet. This way, you will be able to do a fair comparison and not get fooled by property-dealers
The terms built up area, super built up area, saleable area and carpet area pop upagain and again for an Indian real estate buyer. The apartment that is sold as aspacious 1500 sqft apartment, is actually not 1500 sqft if you count its actualcovered area, or carpet area. Let us see what these terms mean…Definitions-1. Carpet area- The actual area you use. The area on which ‘you can put a carpet’.2. Built up area -Carpet area + area of walls and ducts. Around 10% more thanthe carpet area. A terrace is considered as half the actual area for calculating built uparea. Some projects charge dry terrace same as internal rooms.3. Super built up / Saleable area- Built up area + markup for common spaceslike lifts and stairs. Usually 25% more than the built up area.Let us take an example.Here is thefloor planof one of the apartments atKumar Periwinkle in Kharadi. This is a small apartment whose saleable area, or super built up area is 892 sqft. Letus calculate its carpet area by summing up all its rooms -
RoomDimensions (ft & inch)Carpet area insqftLivingRoom10′ x 15′-9″157.5DiningRoom7′ x 7′-8″53.6Bedroom 111′-9″ x 10′-9″126.3Bedroom 211′-9″ x 10117.5Toilet 18′-6″ x 542.5Toilet 28′-4″ x 4′-3″35.4Terrace10′ x 5′-9″57.5Kitchen11′ x 8′-6″93.5Now terraces are generally considered by halving their actual area. So, carpet areaconsidered of the terrace is 57.5/2 sqft = 28.75 sqft.
2. calculation of super area
The terms built up area, super built up area, saleable area and carpet area pop upagain and again for an Indian real estate buyer. The apartment that is sold as aspacious 1500 sqft apartment, is actually not 1500 sqft if you count its actualcovered area, or carpet area. Let us see what these terms mean…Definitions-1. Carpet area- The actual area you use. The area on which ‘you can put a carpet’.2. Built up area -Carpet area + area of walls and ducts. Around 10% more thanthe carpet area. A terrace is considered as half the actual area for calculating built uparea. Some projects charge dry terrace same as internal rooms.3. Super built up / Saleable area- Built up area + markup for common spaceslike lifts and stairs. Usually 25% more than the built up area.Let us take an example.Here is thefloor planof one of the apartments atKumar Periwinkle in Kharadi. This is a small apartment whose saleable area, or super built up area is 892 sqft. Letus calculate its carpet area by summing up all its rooms -
Room--------------Dimensions (ft)----Carpet areasqft
LivingRoom--------10′ x 15′-9″---------157.5
DiningRoom---------7′ x 7′-8″-----------53.6
Bedroom------------ 11′-9″ x 10′-9″----126.3
Bedroom------------ 11′-9″ x 10--------117.5
Toilet------------ 18′-6″ x 5-----------42.5
Toilet------------- 8′-4″ x 4′-3″-------35.4
Terrace------------10′ x 5′-9″----------57.5
Kitchen------------11′ x 8′-6″----------93.5
Now terraces are generally considered by halving their actual area. So, carpet area considered of the terrace is 57.5/2 sqft = 28.75 sqft.
So, the total carpet area for the rooms of the flat comes to be
approximately 655sqft. Now there is a passage area at the center of the flat, which looks approximately 11 feet by 5 feet, which adds 55 sqft more to the carpet area.So, approximate carpet area of the flat =710 sqft.
. As far as I have seen, athumb rule is to take 1.25 as the multiplying factor to calculate super built up area(i.e. saleable area).So, if we multiply carpet area by 1.25 then super built up area= 710 * 1.25 =887.5sqft.
But this rule of 25% is no written rule, and this multiplier can vary. Ideally, thismultiplier should be more for the schemes where more space is given to amenitiesand common areas. This area is supposed to include the common amenities that arebuilt but are not directly charged to the customer. But there are no concreteformulas for this. The agreement that you will sign with the builder, should have allthe details like carpet area in it. But you will probably see the agreement in detailonly after you decide to buy your home there.So are you getting cheated when you actually get a 700 sqft apartment when youthought you got 900 sqft? Not really…The key is to ask for the carpet area of the apartment you are buying, and verify itby doing a calculation as given above, and also verify the dimensions actually on theground if possible. As long as we have open market economy, you will always have choices. So, if you find that a project has a multiplying factor of 25% for super builtup area and another has 30%, the simplest thing you can do, is get the carpet areaof the actual rooms and find out the per sqft rate based on carpet area, to comparethe two projects.Apart from this, there are also several extra bills like electricity backup charges,parking charges, maintenance charges for amenities, society formation charges soon and so forth. So, you need to consider and compare all of these charges beforethinking of choosing the right project to buy a property. Give a hard thought to howmany of the amenities you are actually going to use, and how much you are gettingcharged for them. Will it be simply better to buy into a no-frills project and join agymkhana club rathar than paying maintenance charges for the swimming pool youare not going to use?Simply create an excel sheet and put all the parameters of the property in it, likecarpet area, parking charges etc. Use that sheet as your basis of taking decision andnot the glossy marketing brochures they give you!--Zamanzar.com is currently ranked within the TOP 10 real estate portals in Indiaaccording to Alexa traffic rank. The company was started in 2007 by Nisheeth
3.Brainwaves & Braindumps
AboutCarpet area, Built up area for beginners
Many flat purchasers are having doubts about area of the flat they are going to purchase. In order to help them, the following details are given:
Definitions:
Carpet area: As name suggests, it is the area where we can put carpet literally. So it is the area which we use on daily basis. If usable terrace( private terrace) is there within the flat, then the area of terrace is calculated and 50% of it is added to carpet area.
Built up area: ( (BUA) In addition to carpet area, we have to add up area of walls and ducts. Normally it is 10% more than the carpet area. This is also called plinth area and it includes external wall/internal wall within the rooms also.
Super-Built up area: (SBUA) This is actually saleable area which every builder quotes. It includes built up area plus common space area like stair cases, gymnasium, security room, motor room, walkways, lifts, terrace of the building etc. Usually it is normally 15% more than built up area.
In order to understand the concepts of all the above, one simple illustration is given below:
Room ------------- Dimension ---------Carpet area in sqft
Living room ----- 10 x 15 --------- 150
Master Bedroom----- 12 x 15 --------- 180
Bedroom -2 ------ 10 x 12 --------- 120
Dining room ------- 8 x 10 -------- 80
Kitchen --------- 12 x 10 --------- 120
Toilet -1 -------- 8 x 5 -------- 40
Toilet -2 ------- 10 x 7 ------- 70
Private Terrace ---- 10 x 6 -------- 30 (within the flat premises)
Passages within flat--- 10 x 5 -------- 50
Since terraces are considered within carpet area by halving their actual area( 50% of 60 sqft). In this case, it is 30 sqft.
So the total carpet area of 840 sqft. The builder may quote nearly 1050 sqft as saleable area to purchaser which includes carpet area plus walls plus common areas for the said flat which are allowed to be freely used by them. This does not include car parking for which separate rate is calculated and charged.
Thus the thumb rule is to take 1.25 as the multiplying factor to calculate super built up area or saleable area. But this 1.25 differs from project to project based on common amenities.
Apart from this, there will be several extra charges like electricity backup charges, parking charges, maintenance charges for amenities, security charges etc. So we need to consider and compare all of these charges before thinking of choosing the right project to buy a property. We should give a hard thought to how many of the amenities we are actually going to use, and how much we are going to get charged for them. Whether it will be good thing to buy into a no-frills project and join a gymkhana club rather than paying maintenance charges for the swimming pool which we are not going to use. Also nowadays there is not much co-operation among the flat residents and hence lot of problems is faced in running common amenities which becomes dud in the long run and useless.
So when you go in for purchase of flats, just check up the carpet area and other things among various alternatives including importance of locality, floor number and travel facilities before deciding on any single flat. It is better to go in for first or second floor rather than ground and other floors as lot of problems are coming in times of crisis.
In this connection, we should know about FSI also. FSI means Floor Space index. This is the ratio between total plot area to the total built up area of the building. Every flat owner is having the right in the plot area and it is apportioned based on super-built up area or built up area as per the agreement.
Before purchasing the flat,
1.Check up whether the builder has the right to put up structure over the land as the owner or contractor. If so, check the title of land ownership with the help of good advocate.
2.Also we should check whether the builder is building without any violation and the construction of our flat is as per plan given to us.
3.Check whether the total floors are as per the building map.
4.We should ensure that the floor we are buying is approved one as nowadays many flats are sold without any approval and the purchasers faces the problem of demolition.
5.We should also check the reputation of builder and also we should obtain that NOC for urban land ceiling is obtained by the builder.
6.Obtain the electrical and water pipelines maps from the builder which will be helpful in getting help for any major repairs or alteration.
