When buying a home, size is an important consideration. But the size of the apartment is given in three different ways — carpet area, built-up area and super built-up area. Naturally, it leads to a lot of disconnect between what you pay for versus what you actually get.

Carpet area is what a home buyer may be mainly interested in knowing. It is the useable square feet (sq ft) inside the house, and is the space where you can spread a wall-to-wall carpet. The thickness of the walls is not included in calculating the carpet area. Balcony sections are also generally not included; however, if it is fully covered, it may be added.

Built-up area is the area enclosed in the house. This includes the carpet area, internal and external walls and balcony area. In general, it is 10-20 per cent more than the carpet area.

Super built-up area

Super built-up area is what you pay for when buying a flat. What this includes is the built-up area plus your share of common areas, such as stairs, lobby, and corridor.

The space taken up by common services, such as lifts, pump room or electrical room is also added. Additional shared facilities, such as clubhouse, gym, pool or garden, are also counted proportionally in the super built-up area. Car parking area is not part of the super built-up area and is usually handled separately.

The super built-up area, also known as the saleable area, can be much higher than the carpet area, based on the amenities in the project and the number of homes they are shared with. Builders use what is called the loading factor to the carpet area to arrive at the area you must pay for.

For example, if the carpet area is 500 sq ft and the loading is 30 per cent, you will be charged for 650 sq ft. The higher the loading, the more you have to shell out for the same amount of space inside your home. For instance, a no-frills development without any extra features will have a smaller loading factor compared to a luxury project with a sprawling clubhouse.

Extra payment

It is however, not easy to measure the common facilities; that can be an area of dispute between the buyers and the developers. There are also cases where additional payment was demanded from buyers as the super built-up area was increased due to common area changes in the project. It is wise to check your agreement to understand how the saleable area was actually calculated and the clauses on extra payments.