Knowledge and important of UDS

What is the importance of UDS (UnDivided Share) in flat system (INDIA)?

While buying an apartment, Indian home buyers concentrate on flat area but clueless about the actual land ownership - Undivided share of land. The property appreciation depends on the land value (UDS) and not the concrete building.

It is important to understand and ensure the UDS of the individual flat before buying it. In India, a majority of home buyers prefer living in apartments as it provides all the contemporary amenities, maintenance, security etc., along with quality housing. Even affluent senior citizens sell their bungalows and move to posh retirement apartments for the comfort and security it offers. Before buying, home buyers usually ensure the builder profile, project layouts, location and connectivity but often overlook the undivided share offered. While buying an apartment in a multistory residential complex, we carefully analyses the carpet area, built up area and super built up area but the ownership doesn’t depend on the flat area but the undivided land share. In a flat system, it is necessary to check the undivided share (UDS) which will determine the value of the property.

What is UDS? An Undivided share is a share of land allotted to the flat buyer while purchasing a property and it is registered in the name of the owner. When a home buyer purchases an apartment, he/she is entitled to 2 things: the constructed building and the proportionate share of land, where the whole building is constructed. The price appreciation of the property is the actual appreciation of the land and not the building, so the property price depends on the undivided share.

Why is it important?

 Have you ever thought what will happen to your apartment in case of natural disaster like an earthquake, building collapse or if government wants to acquire the property for a public project? Even if the apartment society wants to redevelop the property after decades, the building will be demolished and only the undivided share of land maters. It is crucial to understand your undivided share in a multi-storey residential project. The sum of all the undivided shares must be equal to the size of the land in which the apartments are constructed.

The more UDS one buys, the better value for money in future. In case of co-operative societies, the UDs will be in the name of the society as the flat owners are the share holders of the society. Otherwise, the flat owners should check their share of UDS in the sales agreement.

How is UDS Calculated?

UDS (Undivided Share) is usually calculated as a percentage of the apartments super built-up area to the total super built-up area of all apartments.

Usually, it is of the form..

      Individual Apartment's super built-up area

UDS = ------------------------------------------   x Total Land Area.

      Sum of all Apartments' super built-up area

From the above, you can see that the sum of all the UDS will be equal to the total land area of the apartment.

Example 1 :

Assuming a four-in-one apartment of equal sizes, of say 900 sqft, on one ground (2400 sqft) of land.

              900

UDS = ----------------- x 2400 = 600 sqft

      (900+900+900+900)

The UDS will be 600 sqft.

Example 2 :

If the four apartments were of different sizes, say 700 sqft, 800 sqft, 900 sqft and 1200 sqft, then the UDS of each apartment would be..

                700

UDS 1 =  -------------------- x 2400 

          (700+800+900+1200)

      = (700 / 3600) x 2400 = 466.67 sqft

UDS 2 = (800 / 3600) x 2400 = 533.33 sqft

UDS 3 = (900 / 3600) x 2400 = 600 sqft

UDS 4 = (1200 / 3600) x 2400 = 800 sqft

Note :
The super built-up area includes a proportionate share of common areas.