Building byelaws and regulations differ from states to state and even city to city. However, it invariably turns out that property buyers are required to pay for construction that falls in FSI-free areas – areas of congregation, passage and general convenience.
In a typical project, these areas do not tend to constitute more than 15-20% of the overall FSI. Nevertheless, all that a buyer would really wish to pay for is the exact amount of space available for personal use in the property – in other words, the carpet area. However, there is no contained space without walls, so the buyer winds up paying for the space those occupy, too – this is the built-up area. This is, of course, unavoidable.
What rankles many property buyers is the fact that the developer charges them on the basis of super built-up area – this includes the carpet and built-up area as well as the area taken up by common spaces like the staircase, lobby, lifts and even the terrace and building maintenance room.
Ashutosh Limaye, Associate Director, Strategic Consulting, Jones Lang LaSalle India
