Few things confuse first-time buyers more than seeing three different area figures for what's supposedly the same flat — and developers historically haven't made this easier to understand.
**Carpet area** is the actual usable floor area within your flat's walls — literally, the area you could cover with a carpet. It excludes wall thickness, balconies, and any shared spaces. This is the number that matters most for how the flat will actually feel to live in, and it's also the figure RERA now legally requires developers to quote prominently.
**Built-up area** adds the thickness of your flat's internal and external walls to the carpet area, plus any balcony or utility area attached to the unit. It's typically 10-15% larger than carpet area, depending on wall thickness and balcony proportions.
**Super built-up area** (also called "saleable area") goes further, adding a proportional share of common areas — lobbies, staircases, lift shafts, clubhouse, and other shared amenities across the building. This is usually 20-30% larger than carpet area, and historically, it's the figure developers used for pricing, which made cross-project comparisons genuinely difficult.
**Why this matters financially.** If a developer quotes ₹80 lakh for a "1,000 sq. ft." flat but that's the super built-up figure with only 750 sq. ft. of actual carpet area, your effective price per sq. ft. of usable space is significantly higher than the headline number suggests. Always ask for the carpet area figure specifically and calculate your own price-per-sq.-ft. from that, not from the super built-up number.
**RERA's mandatory disclosure rule is your friend here.** Since RERA came into effect, developers are legally required to sell based on carpet area, not super built-up area, and to disclose the carpet area clearly in the agreement. If a developer is still primarily quoting super built-up figures without clearly stating carpet area, that's worth questioning directly.
**A simple habit that saves confusion:** whenever you're comparing two properties, convert everything to price-per-sq.-ft.-of-carpet-area before comparing. It's the only apples-to-apples number across different developers, who often use different loading factors (the percentage added between carpet and super built-up area).
Every listing on Lanivas Properties clearly states carpet area alongside the total price, precisely so you're not left doing this math yourself.