Premium Floor Area Ratio draft rules for Karnataka out

Citizens who want to buy premium floor area ratio (FAR) will have to shell out 50% of the guidance value of the additional area that they will construct using the extra space, according to draft rules notified by the government.

The premium FAR is expected to bring revenue to the government while also giving a fillip to vertical growth in the real estate sector.

FAR is the ratio of the total plot area to the total building area, and is determined by the size of the plot and width of the road in front of the plot.

First mooted three years ago under the draft common zoning regulations, the Urban Development Department (UDD) has now published the Karnataka Planning Authority (Amendment) Rules, 2020 that is open for citizen feedback. This comes after the government recently amended the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act.

Calculation of premium FAR charges will be based on guidance value of the additional (notional) land and guidance value of the building.

Sample this: If a building site measures 1,000 sqm and the permissible FAR is 2.5, then the total allowable built-up area will be 2,500 sqm.

If the premium FAR is 1 and the guidance value of the building site is Rs 50,000, then the charges applicable will be 50% of the increase in value of land and building, working out to Rs 16,500 per sqm, according to an illustration by the government.

All civic bodies governed under the Act will be allowed to levy charges for the additional FAR in “impact zones of transport infrastructure projects and any other public infrastructure projects within the Local Planning Areas and in other areas of the approved Master Plans,” the draft rules state.

The rules will be applicable to all cities in the state. However, individual civic bodies will have to take a final call on implementing it.

Currently, only Mangaluru City Corporation is selling premium FAR in its limits. According to the existing Bengaluru master plan, the maximum permissible FAR is 3.25.

Money collected through premium FAR charges will be used by the local planning authority towards development. According to the draft rules, 50% of the charges collected should be utilised for acquisition of land reserved for roads and road widening. Another 50% will be used for development of infrastructure.

Satish Bangalore, managing director, Skydealz India Property Services, welcomed the move. “On the one hand, this will help developers get more returns on investment, while making houses more affordable for buyers,” he said. However, he said the government should sanction FARs only in areas with relevant road width. Otherwise, premium FAR will lead to traffic congestion, he warned.