Homebuyers Losing Liveable Space as Loading Surges in Major Cities

Homebuyers are increasingly getting more common area and less liveable space in residential properties as average loading in leading regions like the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Delhi NCR, and Bengaluru have crossed 40% from around 30% in 2019, according to a report by Anarock Property Consultants.

Loading is the difference between the super-built-up area and carpet area in a residential property. Higher loading means buyers get less liveable space and pay more for common areas like elevators, lobbies, staircases, clubhouses, and more.

Loading has gone up steadily in residential properties in top cities in the last couple of years, according to the study. Among the top seven cities, Bengaluru saw the highest percentile jump in average loading over the last seven years – from 30% in 2019 to 41% in Q1 2025. The jump coincides with the increasingly higher saturation of modern amenities that developers now include to cater to the modern lifestyle in the IT hub of Bengaluru, said the report.

MMR continues to see the highest loading among the top 7 cities with 43% in Q1 2025. The region has seen the average loading percentage grow steadily over the years – from 33% in 2019 to 39% in 2022 to 43% in Q1, 2025. Chennai, on the other hand, has the least average loading rise in Q1 2025 with 36%, aligning with a city-specific demand profile where homebuyers prefer to pay more for usable space within their homes rather than for common areas. In 2019, Chennai’s average loading percentage was 30% like Bengaluru. It gradually rose to 32% in 2022 and further to 36% in Q1 2025, Anarock said.

In NCR, the average loading percentage rose from 31% in 2019 to 37% in 2022, and to 41% in Q1 2025.

While Rera now requires developers to mention the total carpet area provided to homebuyers, no law currently limits the loading factor in projects. Q1 2025 readings show that 60% of the total space, within their apartment homebuyers in the top 7 cities pay for, now is liveable space, and the remaining 40% is common areas – elevators, lobbies, staircases, clubhouses, amenities, terraces, and so on. The average loading percentage was 31% back in 2019, said Prashant Thakur, Regional director & head – Research & Advisory, Anarock.

In the past, a loading of 30% or less was thought to be typical, he added. Today, higher amenity loading has become the norm across most projects, partly because homebuyers are no longer satisfied with basic amenities – they expect fitness centres, clubhouses, park-like gardens, and grand lobbies. Collectively, these features may improve comfort, community liveability, and also resale value. However, homebuyers effectively lose on actual usable space within their apartments, he said.

In most cases, buyers across cities, except in Maharashtra, are unaware of how much they pay towards the overall usable space within their apartments. Respective state Rera should ideally enforce provisions wherein each project clearly mentions how much buyers are paying for the total usable space within the apartment, and for the amenities, he said.

Developers agree that loading has to be reasonable. Sunil Pareek, executive director at Assetz Property Group said: “Grade A and responsible developers have an effecting of anywhere between 70-75%. In other words, the carpet area is around 70-75% of saleable area.” Loading beyond this seems unfair on consumers, Pareek added.