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How many floors you can build, how much area the FAR table actually gives your plot, what doesn’t count against it — and the square-yard boundary at which a “bigger plot” suddenly builds less per yard.
On a residential plot in South Delhi you can build stilt parking plus four floors, with basement, within a maximum height of 17.5 metres with stilt (15 m without). How much total area those floors can contain is set by the plot’s FAR (floor area ratio) under Master Plan Delhi 2021: 350 for plots up to 100 sq m, 300 for 100–250 sq m, 225 for 250–750 sq m and 200 above that — multiplied by plot area to give your buildable area. Balconies, stilt parking, basement, lift shaft and mumty sit outside the FAR count, which is why a well-designed building delivers more usable space than the headline number suggests.
Every collaboration negotiation, every “can we add a floor?” question and every new-build floor’s spec sheet in South Delhi ultimately runs through one table — the development controls of MPD-2021. Buyers rarely read it, and sellers quote it selectively. Consequently, here is the whole picture: the FAR and coverage table, the height and dwelling-unit rules, what’s excluded from the count, two worked examples on the plot sizes this market actually trades — and the 250-square-metre boundary that trips up more owners than any other line in the bye-laws.
| Plot size (sq m) | Approx. sq yards | Max ground coverage | FAR | Dwelling units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 50 | up to ~60 | 90% | 350 | 3 |
| Above 50 – 100 | ~60–120 | 90% | 350 | 4 |
| Above 100 – 250 | ~120–299 | 75% | 300 | 4 |
| Above 250 – 750 | ~299–897 | 75% | 225 | 5 |
| Above 750 – 1000 | ~897–1196 | 50% | 200 | 7 |
| Above 1000 | 1196+ | 50% | 200 | 7–10 by slab |
Read the bolded rows together and you meet South Delhi’s strangest arithmetic: because 250 sq m converts to just under 299 sq yards, the classic 300 sq yd plot (≈251 sq m) falls in the 225-FAR slab, while a 250 sq yd plot (≈209 sq m) enjoys FAR 300. The marginally bigger plot builds less area per yard. It still builds more in absolute terms and carries more land — but anyone pricing two plots on either side of that line, or planning a rebuild through a collaboration agreement, must run the FAR before the price per yard.
200 sq yd plot (≈167 sq m, FAR 300): buildable area = 300% × 1,800 sq ft = 5,400 sq ft across four floors ≈ 1,350 sq ft per floor — before adding balconies, stilt and basement, which sit outside the count.
300 sq yd plot (≈251 sq m, FAR 225): buildable area = 225% × 2,700 sq ft = 6,075 sq ft ≈ 1,519 sq ft per floor. More house than the 200-yarder — but 20.25 sq ft of FAR per yard against the smaller plot’s 27. That difference is priced into every South Delhi comparison worth making.
The four-floor envelope works like this: buildings may rise to 15 m without stilt parking or 17.5 m with it, and neither counts as high-rise. Stilt parking is mandatory for plots of 100–1000 sq m — effectively every serious South Delhi plot — which is why the standard new building is stilt + 4. Crucially for design, the bye-laws keep a generous list of spaces out of the FAR computation: balconies, the stilt floor, basement (for permitted uses), lift shafts and machine room, and the mumty on the roof. A capable architect converts those exclusions into real living quality — deep balconies, serviced basements, comfortable lobbies — without spending a foot of FAR. Dwelling-unit caps (four units on the 100–250 sq m slab, five on 250–750) are what limit how many separate floors can legally exist, and additional units where permitted attract infrastructure-augmentation levies.
Square yards × 0.836 = square metres. The slab boundaries live in metres, and the 250 sq m line sits at ~299 sq yd — check which side you’re on before anything else.
FAR% × plot area = total buildable; divide by four floors for the per-floor footprint, then confirm it fits within the ground-coverage cap and setbacks.
Four saleable floors need four permitted units — the cap, not the FAR, is what makes a “fifth unit” plan illegal on mid-size plots.
An older 3-floor building on a 300-yarder holds unused potential under the current stilt+4 regime — the redevelopment value our builder floors pillar guide explains, and the reason land shares matter so much in every deed.
All of this is subject to sanctioned building plans from MCD under the Unified Building Bye-Laws. FAR describes what can be approved; it approves nothing by itself.
In South Delhi, you’re not buying a house. You’re buying the right to build one — and the FAR table is the deed to that right.
Stilt parking plus four floors, with basement, within 17.5 metres of height. This is the standard envelope for the new builder floor buildings across South Delhi’s colonies.
A 200 sq yd plot (≈167 sq m) falls in the 100–250 sq m slab: FAR 300 and 75% ground coverage — roughly 5,400 sq ft of FAR area, or about 1,350 sq ft per floor across four floors, plus the excluded balconies, stilt and basement.
About 251 sq m — just over the 250 sq m line — so FAR 225 with 75% coverage: roughly 6,075 sq ft of FAR area, around 1,519 sq ft per floor. More absolute area than a 200-yarder, but less FAR per yard; the boundary at ~299 sq yd is the table’s biggest trap.
No — balconies, stilt parking, basement (for permitted uses), lift shafts and the mumty are excluded from the FAR computation, which is why well-designed floors feel larger than their FAR number.
For residential plots of 100 to 1000 sq m, yes — which covers virtually every South Delhi colony plot. The stilt gives the building its parking and lifts the living floors above street level.
By slab: three units up to 50 sq m, four on 50–250 sq m, five on 250–750, seven on 750–1000, rising further on larger plots — with levies for additional units where permitted. The unit cap, not the FAR, is what limits how many separate floors can be sold.
Only if the building’s height, structure and sanctioned plan can absorb it within the stilt+4 envelope and unused FAR exists. In practice, older buildings usually add floors through a full rebuild via collaboration rather than by stacking on old structure.
Setbacks scale with plot size under the bye-laws and, together with the ground-coverage cap, determine the actual footprint. Where the permissible coverage can’t be achieved within the prescribed setbacks, the preceding category’s setbacks may be allowed — your architect computes this per plot.
Unused FAR is redevelopment value — an old 2-floor building on a plot entitled to four floors is priced substantially on what can be rebuilt. It’s the engine behind South Delhi’s collaboration market and a core input in every land-share negotiation.
In Master Plan Delhi 2021’s development-control norms and the Unified Building Bye-Laws, as amended by notification — the DDA’s handbook condenses the tables. Always have your architect verify the current notified position before designing or transacting on it.
We run the FAR, unit-cap and collaboration math on every plot we advise on — before you price it. Tell us the plot; we’ll tell you what it can become.
FAR, coverage, height and dwelling-unit figures reflect Master Plan Delhi 2021’s development controls and the Unified Building Bye-Laws as amended and in force in July 2026, condensed in the DDA’s development-controls handbook at dda.gov.in. Norms change by notification and individual plots carry specific conditions; verify the current notified position with a licensed architect before designing, buying or pricing on these numbers.
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