What is the difference between built-up area, land area and garden area?

What does built-up area measure?

Built-up area is the space inside the walls of the unit: the rooms, corridors, balconies and service areas you actually use, counted floor by floor. It is the size a listing shows for the unit, and the figure a price per square metre is worked out from. In a home of two floors, the built-up area is the sum of both.

What does land area measure?

Land area is the plot: the piece of ground the building stands on, measured in square metres. A plot is recorded only where the home genuinely has one, which is a villa, an i-villa, a townhouse or a twinhouse. A flat inside a block has no separate plot, because the land beneath the block is held in common by everyone who owns a unit in it.

What does garden area measure?

Garden area is the planted, open part of the plot: the lawn, the trees and the landscaped space around the building. It is not land of its own. It is a share of the plot, and the rest of that plot carries the footprint of the building, the driveway and the circulation space.

Why does a house carry all three and a flat only one?

A flat is part of a building, so the only measurement that belongs to it alone is the built-up area. A house on its own plot is sold with that plot, so its listing shows the built-up area, the land area and the garden area together. The three are not alternatives to each other; they describe the same house at three levels: the space you live in, the ground it stands on, and the part of that ground left open.

Which area is the price based on?

The advertised price of a unit is tied to the unit itself, and the built-up area is the figure the price per square metre is worked out from. For a house, the plot it stands on is part of what the price covers: two houses of the same built-up area can carry different prices when one stands on a larger plot. The garden is part of that plot, not a separate line item.

Which figure should I compare between two listings?

Compare like with like. Two flats are compared on built-up area. Two houses should be compared on both the built-up area and the land area, because a larger plot changes both what you can use and what you pay. Comparing the built-up area of a flat with the land area of a villa says nothing useful, because the two figures measure different things.

What should be written into the contract?

The contract states which area is being sold: the built-up area of the unit and, where there is a plot, the land area and the garden area, each in square metres. Check that the figures in the contract match the figures on the listing and on the plan, and that the plan shows the boundary of the plot. The contract is where the exact numbers are fixed, so read it against what was advertised before you sign.