Go ahead, build bigger home

Go ahead, build bigger home
Chandrashekar G | TNN

Bangalore: Lack of space in your house? You can now legally create more space. BDA’s Masterplan 2015 made the provision, while the BBMP has now come out with a break-up of how much additional space you can have in your existing or a new house: by changes to setback, coverage area, Floor Area Ratio (FAR) and height of the building.
To help people understand to what extent they are allowed to construct a building, BBMP’s town planning department has brought out a manual detailing the availability of the additional space.
In order to accommodate growing population in the city, the Masterpaln had relaxed restrictions on setback, coverage, FAR and height of a building. The owners of 20x30 sqft, 30x40 sqft and 40x60 sqft are more lucky, as they can enjoy all relaxations without bothering about the road width. However, for sites measuring 50x80 sqft and 80x120 sqft, the permissible FAR depends on the width of the road and the zone.
Prior to approval of the Masterplan, for a building measuring 40x60 sqft in the city, the maximum coverage area of the site was only up to 65%. Now, coverage area up to 75 % could be utilised. Earlier, the setback in the front was 10ft, 5ft each at rear, left and right sides of a site. Now, the setback for a building has been reduced to 7.2ft in the front, 4.8ft at rear and 3.14 ft on either sides of the site.
The FAR has been increased to 1.75 irrespective of the width of the road which was earlier 0.75 to 1.0 FAR, depending on the zone in which the site was located. The changes made in the Masterplan also applies for the existing buildings. The owner can heighten his building and have more FAR.
BIG BUILDING
Rainwater harvesting mandatory in sites of all dimensions Owners of sites measuring more than 2400 sqft and 4000 sqft should mandatorily plant trees and have a provision for solar apparatus It is mandatory to plant one tree in 2400 sqft site and two trees in 4000 sqft area, at the setback area in rear side. The trees should be planted before the approval of the building plan. FAR makes homes bigger
Bangalore: Your house just got more spacious. With the BDA’s Masterplan 2015 pushing the FAR (floor area ratio) envelope further, it’s boom time for those building houses.
With population of the city bursting at its seams, the civic authorities are under pressure to create more space from the available land bank. Therefore, the masterplan has relaxed restrictions on setback, coverage, FAR and height of a building. Those who are going to benefit more are owners of sites measuring 20x30 sqft, 30x40 sqft and 40x60 sqft.
Here’s a comparison of the FAR norms currently in practice and the ones that have been proposed.