Flats to be registered based on carpet area in West Bengal

January 19, 2024: West Bengal has revised the flat and house registration module according to the Real Estate Regulatory Authority guidelines, according to a TOI report. Houses and flats in the state will now be registered according to the carpet area instead of the super built-up area. According to the earlier norms, houses and flats were being registered based on the super built-up area.

The Inspector General of Registration (IGR) has started property registration according to the carpet area from January 17, 2024. According to RERA, real estate players had to sell flats as per the carpet area.

The super built-up area, which includes common facilities such as a staircase, landing and open areas, is generally 20% higher than the carpet area – a super built-up area of 1,000 square foot (sqf) translates into 800 sqft of carpet area.

The stamp duty paid by buyers, calculated based on carpet area, will be lower than in the case of a super built-up area. However, the circle rate has been adjusted to some extent to avoid losses to the state exchequer. For example, if the rate was Rs 3,500 per sqft in an area, it may be revised to Rs 4,000 to Rs 4,200 per sqft or above, leading to the total outgo from buyers remaining almost unchanged.

In February 2021, the state had announced an exemption in stamp duty and a reduction in circle rate for homebuyers, which will be in effect till June 2024. There has been a 2% exemption in stamp duty and a 10% average reduction in circle rate for the registration of properties. This was 5% for properties over Rs 1 crore. For properties below Rs 1 crore, it was reduced to 4%. In rural areas, it was reduced to 3% from 5%.