Real Estate Myth #1: Larger Carpet Area always means more usable space

Do you know the two apartments in the same building with similar carpet areas can have different usable areas? Deepesh Salgia, Director, Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate, explains the startling fact that focuses on the intriguing nature of the carpet area. While buying everyday consumption items like vegetables, fruits, etc. everyone ensures that the measurement is accurate. But while purchasing, one of the most expensive things of their lifetime – one’s own house - no one actually measures it. The space available in the house is only estimated.   The most common parameter to assess the usable space within an apartment is its Carpet Area. While, Carpet Area normally gives a reasonably good idea about the size of the apartment and is definitely a significant improvement over ‘super built-up area’ or ‘saleable area’ of the past, however, it is still not the last word on the actual amount of usable space within the apartment.   Two apartments with identical Carpet Areas could have different usable areas.

Consider two apartments in the same building, one located exactly above the other, one the 5th floor and one on 30th floor. Both these apartments have the same layout and have identical Carpet Area. It may raise a few eyebrows but the fact remains that these two most likely would have different usable spaces. This is because Carpet Area (as defined under RERA) includes the thickness of walls between the rooms. And typically, in a high rise tower, the apartments on lower floors have thicker columns and RCC walls. So, the owner of apartment on 5th floor will normally be enjoying lesser usable area than the owner of the apartment on the 30th floor.

  Consider another example of two apartments -

A and B with differing Carpet areas of 600 sft and 625 sft respectively. It may be shocking but under certain situations, apartment A can actually have more usable space than an apartment B..! This is because, Carpet Area (as defined under RERA) does not consider balcony within the Carpet Area. So if the apartment A has a 40 sft of balcony then the usable space available in apartment A will be more than the usable space available in apartment B.

Watch video to know more myths about real estate! Hence, it is important that such technical factors are considered before ascertaining the actual usable space available and also while undertaking the valuation of the apartment. Decisions based purely on Carpet Area could be misleading.