Area & Measurement
What is Common Area?
You buy them in the loading factor. You then pay to maintain them every month, forever. It is worth knowing exactly what you have agreed to.
The short answer
Common areas are everything used in common — lobbies, staircases, lifts, corridors, parking, the clubhouse, the garden, the water tank, the generator.
You pay for them twice:
1. In the LOADING FACTOR, at purchase.
2. In the MAINTENANCE CHARGE, every month, for as long as you own the flat.
What counts as common area
- Entrance lobby, corridors, staircases, lifts and lift lobbies
- Basements, terraces, parks, play areas, open parking
- The clubhouse, gym, pool and other recreation facilities
- Water tanks, sumps, pumps, the sewage treatment plant
- Generator, electrical substation, fire-fighting equipment
- Security rooms, watchman's quarters
- Common ducts, shafts and service areas
- Compound walls, gates, internal roads
RERA actually defines this — Section 2(n)
RERA sets out what constitutes 'common areas' — and it is broad.
Why that matters: under Section 17, the promoter must convey the common areas to the association of allottees.
Which means the builder does not get to keep the terrace, or the clubhouse, or the open parking, and sell them separately. They are common areas, and they belong to the society.
This is not theoretical. Builders have sold terraces, and rented out clubhouses, and continued to sell parking slots in buildings they had long since finished — because nobody knew the definition.
You pay for them twice — and the second time never stops
1. AT PURCHASE — the loading factor.
Super built-up = carpet + walls + your share of all of the above. On a 40% loading, you are buying 400 sq ft of lobby, lift and clubhouse for every 1,000 sq ft of flat.
2. EVERY MONTH — maintenance.
Charged, almost always, per square foot of SUPER BUILT-UP area. So the bigger your share of the common areas, the bigger your monthly bill — for the whole life of the flat.
A high loading factor is not a one-time cost. It is a subscription.
What a 40% loading costs you, monthly, forever
1,000 sq ft carpet. Maintenance at ₹4/sq ft of super built-up.
- 25% loading → super built-up
- 1,250 sq ft → ₹5,000/month
- 40% loading → super built-up
- 1,400 sq ft → ₹5,600/month
- Difference, per month
- ₹600
- Over 30 years (before escalation)
- ₹2,16,000
And maintenance charges rise. So the real figure is considerably higher.
Who actually owns the common areas?
The society — the association of allottees. Once conveyance has happened.
Which is why builders delay conveyance, and it is why it matters so much.
An unconveyed common area is one the builder can, in practice, still treat as theirs — the terrace, the parking, the unused FSI in the open space.
Ask a resident: “Has conveyance been done?” It is the question that unlocks all of this.
What to check
- What is the loading factor? Super built-up minus carpet, divided by carpet.
- What common areas are you actually getting? Get the list from the RERA filing.
- Is the clubhouse in the sanctioned plan — or is it a render?
- Is the maintenance charged on carpet or super built-up? It matters, monthly, forever.
- Has conveyance been done? If not, the common areas are not yet the society's.
- Is the builder selling parking separately? Open parking is a common area. Ask on what basis it is being sold.
Frequently asked questions
What are common areas in an apartment?
Everything used in common — lobbies, staircases, lifts, corridors, basements, terraces, parks, parking, the clubhouse, gym and pool, water tanks, the sewage treatment plant, the generator, fire-fighting equipment, security rooms, and the internal roads and compound walls. RERA defines them in Section 2(n).
Do I pay for common areas twice?
Yes. Once at purchase, through the loading factor — on a 40% loading you buy 400 sq ft of lobby and clubhouse for every 1,000 sq ft of flat. And then every month, in maintenance, which is almost always charged per square foot of SUPER BUILT-UP area. A high loading factor is not a one-time cost; it is a subscription.
Who owns the common areas?
The society — the association of allottees — but only once conveyance has happened. Until then the builder still holds them, which is why they so often delay conveyance, and why it matters. An unconveyed common area is one the builder can in practice still treat as theirs.
Can a builder sell the terrace or the parking?
They shouldn't be able to. Under RERA, common areas — which include terraces and open parking — must be conveyed to the association of allottees under Section 17. But builders have sold terraces, rented out clubhouses and continued selling parking slots in finished buildings, because nobody knew the definition. Ask on what basis anything common is being sold to you.
How much does a high loading factor cost in maintenance?
On a 1,000 sq ft carpet flat at Rs 4/sq ft of super built-up: a 25% loading costs Rs 5,000 a month, a 40% loading costs Rs 5,600. That is Rs 600 a month — over Rs 2 lakh across thirty years, before escalation, on floor space you never see.