KOLKATA: The state has finally changed the flat and house registration module according to real estate regulatory authority (RERA) guidelines. House and flats in the state will now be registered according to carpet area instead of super built up area, which was the prevailing norm till this week.
The inspector general of registration (IGR) has started to register property according to carpet area from Wednesday. According to RERA, real estate players had to sell flats as per carpet area. Earlier, in the state flats and houses had to be registered as per super built area.
The super built up area, which includes common facilities like staircase, landing and open areas, is generally 20% higher than carpet area — a super built area of 1,000 square feet translates into 800 square feet of carpet area.
The stamp duty paid by buyers, calculated according to carpet area, will be lower than in case of super built up area. However, the circle rate has been adjusted to some extent to avoid losses to the state exchequer. For instance, if the rate was Rs 3,500 per square feet in an area, it may be revised to Rs 4,000-Rs 4,200 per square feet or above, leading to the total outgo from buyers remaining almost unchanged.
In February 2021, the state had announced exemption in stamp duty and a reduction in circle rate for home buyers, which will be in force till this June. There has been a 2% exemption in stamp duty and 10% average reduction in circle rate for 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%.
Kolkata’s residential real estate market experienced strong demand from homebuyers, driven by continuation of the stamp duty rebate. The market witnessed the sale of 14,999 residential units, reflecting a significant 16% growth in sales volume over 2022. The robust demand for home buying in 2023 prompted a substantial increase in new residential launches within the market. Incidentally, the projected revenue from stamp duty and registration fees this fiscal (2023-24) was Rs 7,473 crore for the state.
President of Credai West Bengal Sushil Mohta said, “We did a representation in this regard to the state and it has agreed.” The former national president of Credai, H V Patodia, felt it would bring transparency to the system while president of Credai, Bengal, Siddharth Pansari also welcomed the development as being good for the industry. The managing director of Siddha group Sanjay Jain said, “The transition of stamp duty calculation from the super built-up area to carpet area will help the common homebuyer as it would be a more simplified and transparent process.”
