Do not forget to check the loading factor, super area, carpet area when buying an apartment in a builder project

Author: Sachin Gupta | Find me on Twitter Follow @sach_gupta

Sumit Sharma recently bought a 1685 Square Feet apartment in an upcoming locality of Gurgaon. The apartment was a typical 3BHK apartment. The configuration of the apartment was as follows:

Category	Carpet Area (Sq. Ft.)
Bedroom 1	144
Bedroom 2	168
Master Bedroom	180
Kitchen	120
Hall	240
Toilet 1	56
Toilet 2	56
Toilet 3	56
Balconies	159.5
Carpet Area of the Apartment	1179.5
Saleable Area of the Apartment	1685
Efficiency of the Apartment Unit	70.00%
Loading	30.00%

As can be seen from the above example, Sumit got this 3BHK apartment with 30% loading. His apartment’s carpet area turned out to be 1179.5 Square Feet.

Initially, Sumit was taken aback and even contemplated legal action against the developer because what he saw in sample flat was different. The rooms, toilets, Hall appeared bigger to him than what he got in actual. However, on verifying the apartment units of other buyers, he came to realize that carpet area of all the apartments was substantially lower than the sale-able area.

Why? It is due to the term called ‘loading’. While announcing new residential projects, real estate developers come up with plethora of amenities within the gated apartment complex. All these amenities look attractive to prospective buyers on paper and in brochures. However, they forget to realize that more the number of amenities such as club, swimming pool, tracks, gym, more will be the loading. In addition to the development of basic facilities such as lifts, corridors, staircases, the developer will now be constructing all the amenities that he has promised to the buyer. Construction of all these amenities costs and there is no way a builder will keep the cost to himself. These costs are passed on to the customers in form of loading.

In essence, customer pays for the amenities he is getting within the gated apartment complex.

Loading shall not be confused with FSI. While FSI determines how much area within a given piece of plot can be developed as per the local municipal guidelines, loading implies addition of common areas and amenities to an individual flat owner. Loading is generally calculated on a pro rata basis.

In addition to paying for these common areas and amenities in capital value terms, a flat owner would also be subjected to pay a monthly common area maintenance charge for the upkeep of these common areas and amenities.

We have also seen an NRI Customer who invests in Indian real estate is particularly unaware of these terminologies. Therefore, before investing in a residential project, an NRI can hire a reputed realtor or one of the professional Property Management Companies in India to make sure he/she pays as per market conditions. And he/she is not taken for a ride by the developer.

• Can loading be reduced?

Loading is usually on a lower side in a low rise structure, standalone developments, villas, builder floors. In Government allocated plots, loading is zero. Even in high rise gated communities, loading can be reduced if space utilization is optimum and wasteful amenities are eliminated.

• What is the loading pattern in cities across India?

Loading varies from cities to cities and in fact from project to project. Lavish projects with wide open spaces and extra amenities will command high loading. Typically, in Delhi NCR region, loading stands at 22 to 30%. In Mumbai, loading stands at almost 50-60%.

• Is there any government guideline for 'loading'?

The government of India in its Real Estate Regulatory Act made it mandatory for developers to charge only on carpet areas. However, it is yet to be seen in practice. The bill says that “Introduction of the concept of using only ‘carpet area’ for sale which has till now been ambiguously sold as super area, super built up area etc.’’ For more about Real Estate Regulatory Act, read here.

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