Increased FAR: a boon for the realty market
Noida is all set to grow vertically. The recent news about increasing the current floor area ratio (FAR) from 2.7 to 3.5 has been received very graciously. And if everything goes as per the plan, the city will go greener and more customer-friendly, which means more recreational spaces within residential units.
FAR is the ratio between total built up area and area of land on which the building is constructed. Thus, increased FAR means more apartments can come up on a given plot. The constructed area would include the basic structure, walls, staircase or lobby space, if any. FAR differs from area to area within a city. Soon, we may also observe Greater Noida to witness the same hike.
This is extremely important from a buyer’s point of view. For instance, if someone plans to invest in a property, one can ask for the details about the total area of construction and the total plot area. Further, calculating the FAR will give a rough idea of the proposed population density in that particular property.
This also provides a fair idea of the appreciation possibility of the land. For example, if an area has a high FAR, it means there will be more number of apartments on the designated plot area. So in turn, a higher FAR will make a land costlier. This decision is also expected to increase the supply and help in containing real estate prices in Noida, which in turn will have a valuable impact on prices of residential units.
Sushant Muttreja, MD, Cosmic Group, says “When a project is constructed, most of the developers always leave some percentage of space for future additions. Increasing FAR is exactly what suits now. In the same area of land, we can now build more units. This obviously means that developers have more to sell; but the benefits received by the buyers will be more, as they will have access to newer units and later a higher return on investment.”
It will, thus, have a positive impact on the real estate sector.
On the flip side, there are certain homebuyers who fear that increasing FAR might impact the quality of the houses. As more floors and flats built may weaken the foundation of the tower, which can be a risk for the residents. But the builders and developers of the regions have even better ideas for keeping their present and future buyers safe as developers have decided that; number of floors and flats would increase depending upon the architectural feasibility. Also, in other cases if the towers and units are to be increased then the developers would adopt a rewiring technology to strengthen the foundation.
Vikas Chawla, director, Maxblis says, “The fear of some of the buyers is valid. But then it is a duty of the buyer also to check and verify the details with respect to size of flat, plot and the remedy undertaken by the developer in order to negate the negative impact of the increasing FAR. Today, almost every developer is equipped with facilities and equipment to curb the cons caused by increasing FAR.”
Hrishi Kumar, manager, Integrated Centre for Consultancy Pvt. Ltd (ICCPL)
Hrishi is a young management graduate with experience in the field of branding and marketing.
The views expressed in this article are the author´s own.
