Authorities & RERA
What is Layout Approval?
The approval for the whole scheme — the roads, the parks, the plot boundaries. Buy in an unapproved layout and you may own land you cannot build on.
The short answer
Layout approval sanctions the SUBDIVISION of land — into plots, roads, parks and civic amenity sites.
It is not building plan approval. That comes later, for each building.
Buying a plot in an UNAPPROVED layout is how people end up owning land they cannot lawfully build on — and cannot easily sell.
What layout approval is
A developer has a large parcel of land. They want to divide it into plots and sell them, or build a scheme on it.
Before anything, the planning authority must approve the layout:
- The plot boundaries and their sizes
- The roads, and their widths
- The parks and open spaces — a mandated percentage must be surrendered
- The civic amenity (CA) sites — for a school, a clinic, a community centre
- Provision for water, drainage, sewerage and electricity
A percentage of the land — often around a third, varying by state — must be surrendered to the authority for roads, parks and civic amenities. That is the deal: you get to develop, the public gets the infrastructure.
Layout approval vs building plan approval
| Layout Approval | Building Plan Approval | |
|---|---|---|
| What it approves | The subdivision of land — plots, roads, parks | The building — height, floors, FSI, setbacks |
| Scale | The whole scheme | One building |
| When | First | After — for each building |
| Who needs it | Anyone subdividing and selling plots, or developing a layout | Anyone constructing a building |
| Without it | The plots are unapproved. You may not be able to build, or get a loan, or sell. | The construction is unauthorised. |
You need BOTH. Layout approval for the scheme, building plan approval for what you construct on your plot. An approved layout does not mean an approved building, and an approved building on an unapproved layout is still on an unapproved layout.
The unapproved layout trap
A landowner subdivides agricultural land into plots and sells them — without layout approval, and often without converting the land use.
The plots are cheap. The paperwork looks fine to an untrained eye. There may even be a sale deed and a registration.
And then you cannot build.
• No building plan approval — the authority will not sanction a plan on an unapproved layout
• No home loan — most banks will not lend
• B khata, in Bengaluru — with everything that follows
• No legal water or electricity
• Very hard to sell — your buyer faces every problem you did
• And the plot may be sitting on land marked for a road or a park in the master plan
This is not rare. Entire unapproved layouts exist on the fringes of every major Indian city, sold to people who did not know to ask.
How to check
- Ask for the approved layout plan. The document. With the authority's stamp and approval number.
- Verify the approval number with the planning authority — BDA, BMRDA, HMDA, DTCP, the local development authority.
- Check the plot number on the approved layout. Is YOUR plot actually on it? Sometimes the layout is approved and a few extra plots were carved out of the park.
- Check the land use conversion. If the land was agricultural, it must have been converted.
- Check the master plan. Is the layout consistent with what the city intends for that zone? Is a road planned through it?
- Check the khata. In Bengaluru: is it an A khata? An unapproved layout produces B khatas.
- Ask whether the roads and parks have been HANDED OVER to the authority. Until they are, the layout is not complete.
“Is this an approved layout, and is my plot number on the approved plan?”
Two parts. Both matter. An approved layout with your plot carved out of the park is not an approved plot.
Get the approved layout plan, find your plot number on it, and verify the approval with the authority. If you cannot do all three, do not buy.
The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 is a central law. But it is administered by a separate authority in each state, each with its own portal, its own rules, its own forms, and its own fee schedule.
Which means: the principles below apply everywhere. The procedure does not.
Always check YOUR state's RERA portal for the current rules, forms and fees. Search for it by name — MahaRERA, K-RERA, TS-RERA, TNRERA, UP RERA, HARERA — rather than following a link a builder or a broker sends you.
Frequently asked questions
What is layout approval?
The planning authority's sanction of the subdivision of land into plots, roads, parks and civic amenity sites. It is not building plan approval — that comes later, for each building. You need both.
What happens if I buy a plot in an unapproved layout?
You may not be able to build. The authority will not sanction a building plan on an unapproved layout, most banks will not lend, you will get a B khata in Bengaluru, legal water and electricity may be unavailable, and reselling is very hard because your buyer faces every problem you did. The plot may even sit on land marked for a road or a park in the master plan.
What is the difference between layout approval and building plan approval?
Layout approval sanctions the subdivision of the land — the plots, roads and parks. Building plan approval sanctions the building itself — height, floors, FSI, setbacks. Layout comes first, and covers the whole scheme; building plan comes after, for each building. An approved building on an unapproved layout is still on an unapproved layout.
How do I check if a layout is approved?
Ask for the approved layout plan with the authority's stamp and approval number, then verify that number with the planning authority — BDA, HMDA, DTCP, or the local development authority. And crucially, check that YOUR plot number is actually on the approved plan: sometimes the layout is approved and a few extra plots were quietly carved out of the park.