Bengaluru Flat Cleared Through Premium FAR: Checks to Run Before You Pay

Quick answer (2026)

Suppose a Bengaluru flat is marketed on the basis of extra floors or additional built-up area granted under Karnataka's Premium FAR scheme. An approval letter alone should not make you comfortable. The Supreme Court has not struck the scheme down. It has, however, signalled that for the time being Premium FAR must not be used to legalise construction that was already unauthorised. A buyer or bank therefore needs three answers. Was the building lawful before Premium FAR came in? Was the extra FAR properly bought or granted? Is each clearance expressly made subject to the pending case?

Where does the danger lie in a Premium FAR flat?

The danger is that the additional area may stand on weak legal ground when the approval is used to fix a violation that already exists, rather than to allow lawful building in future. Under planning rules, Premium FAR lets a promoter build extra floor area after paying a premium. It was never meant to work as a quiet amnesty for a building that broke its sanctioned plan.

Buyers often look only at the title to the undivided land share. But a flat is also the building around it. A deed for a flat in an unauthorised or wrongly regularised portion can still be registered. That does not protect you from municipal action, a refused occupancy certificate, a refused khata transfer, or a court fight later.

Lenders face a collateral problem. When the mortgaged flat rests on a contested planning relaxation, the security is worth less on enforcement. The bank may hold a registered mortgage over the borrower's rights, yet if the flat cannot be occupied, transferred, mutated or sold without a dispute, the legal file should not be marked clean just because the project has an approval.

Has the Supreme Court cancelled every Premium FAR approval?

No. The position is narrower. The Court has issued notice on the challenge and indicated that, while the case is pending, the scheme should not be used to regularise unauthorised construction. It has also indicated that any interim clearances will depend on how the case finally ends.

So avoid two opposite mistakes. One is to assume every Premium FAR approval is void. The other is to assume every one is safe because the High Court earlier upheld the scheme. The sensible stance is cautious. An approval may be workable, provided it fits the planning framework and is not being used to validate something built earlier in breach.

That is why a diligence note should be written in conditional terms. It should record whether the file shows a lawful base sanction, whether the extra FAR was granted before the relevant portion was built, and whether the purchaser knowingly accepts the risk from the Supreme Court proceedings.

How can I tell if Premium FAR is fresh permission or a cover for an old breach?

Begin with the timeline. Five dates should fit together: the original sanctioned plan, the revised sanctioned plan, the Premium FAR permission, the commencement certificate, and the actual progress of construction.

A warning sign appears if the disputed extra area was already built when the Premium FAR permission came. Another is any earlier notice about deviation, demolition, compounding or regularisation, because the approval may then be an attempt to cure a breach. If the revised plan was issued before the extra floors went up, and no adverse municipal notice exists, the risk is lower though still not zero.

Request the architect's certificate and an extract of the municipal file. A brochure, a RERA page or a letter from the builder is not enough. The file should show the base permissible FAR, the extra FAR applied for, the premium paid, the road width relied upon, the zoning basis and the revised sanction. If any of these is absent, the approval does not explain itself.

Does RERA registration remove the Premium FAR worry?

It does not. RERA registration helps, but it cannot stand in for title and planning checks. The Act deals with project disclosures, promoter duties, timelines and information given to buyers. It does not repair a bad title, an invalid building sanction, a land-use violation or unauthorised construction.

The RERA project page can show you the plans the promoter uploaded, the count of approved units, the completion date, the names of landowner and promoter, and whether approvals were revised. Even so, compare those disclosures with the municipal sanction and with the exact flat being sold.

Mismatches are common. The sale agreement may name a flat number, floor, super built-up area, car park, terrace right or tower that the sanctioned plan or RERA inventory does not show. With Premium FAR in the picture, such a mismatch is more serious, since the extra area could be precisely what is being questioned.

How should a bank's lawyer word the title report?

Keep ownership risk apart from approval risk. Land title can be clear while the building approval is shaky. A legal opinion that merges the two into one line, such as title is clear and marketable, with no qualification, is misleading.

A more reliable layout runs as follows.

• Say whether the land title chain is clear, based on parent deeds, revenue records, the encumbrance search and the litigation search.
• Say whether the project depends on Premium FAR or on a revised sanction with additional FAR.
• Say whether the flat in question lies inside the originally sanctioned area or inside the extra area.
• Say whether any deviation notice, demolition notice, compounding order or regularisation order turned up.
• Say that approvals under the Premium FAR framework may change depending on how the pending Supreme Court challenge ends.

With this, the credit team decides with the true legal risk visible. The lawyer need not forecast the Supreme Court's verdict. The task is to show whether the security rests on a planning permission that is under challenge.

Which single check settles the question?

Compare the plans against the flat. Put the municipal sanctioned plan file, the revised plan that grants Premium FAR, and the flat schedule in the draft sale deed or allotment letter side by side.

Get the sanctioned plan and the revised sanction from the planning or municipal authority that covers the project's location. In Bengaluru the relevant record may sit with an urban development or municipal authority, depending on the project area and approval route. Also collect the commencement certificate, the occupancy certificate or partial occupancy certificate, proof that the Premium FAR amount was paid, and any order or endorsement allowing the additional FAR.

Then go through the papers in this sequence.

• Note the survey number, municipal number and project name from the land title documents.
• Match those identifiers against the sanctioned plan file.
• Look at the floors, blocks, towers and built-up area first approved.
• See exactly what the revised sanction altered.
• Work out whether your flat is inside the extra FAR portion.
• Confirm the approval was granted before that portion was built.
• Confirm the occupancy certificate takes in your flat, tower and floor.
• See whether the authority noted any condition that approvals depend on court orders.

Do not go ahead on the builder's word if your flat is missing from the sanctioned or revised plan. If it shows up only in a later revised plan issued after construction, ask whether the file holds deviation proceedings or compounding records. And where the occupancy certificate leaves out the relevant floor or tower, the risk stays even though the deed can be registered.

What should the seller or builder hand over before I give an advance?

Ask for the mother deed and the land title chain, but go further. In a Premium FAR case the approval set matters equally. The seller or builder should supply the original sanctioned plan, every revised plan, the commencement certificate, the Premium FAR permission or endorsement, proof the premium was paid, the zoning or road-width basis for the extra FAR, the RERA registration page with uploaded approvals, the completion certificate, the occupancy certificate, and any municipal letters about deviations.

If you are buying from a resale owner, ask for the builder-buyer agreement, allotment letter, possession letter, sale deed, khata or property tax record, association handover papers and any no-dues certificate. Resale owners often lack the full approval file. That does not remove the risk. It means you must obtain certified or inspected copies from the authority, or insist the seller gets them before you pay an advance.

Read the draft sale deed closely too. Its description of the flat must not go beyond the sanctioned plan, and it must not conceal that the building relies on revised approvals. A clause stating the buyer has checked all approvals can hurt the buyer later.

Is every Premium FAR project one to avoid?

No. Premium FAR is a planning tool, and a project can use it lawfully. The phrase itself is not the red flag. The red flag is a missing clean chain of approval, construction and occupancy.

A lower-risk project looks like this. Land title is clear, the base plan was sanctioned, the builder applied for extra FAR, the authority granted it before the relevant construction, the premium was paid, the revised plan shows your flat, the occupancy certificate covers your tower and floor, and no deviation notice is pending. Even here, since the wider scheme is being challenged, the legal opinion should mention the litigation risk.

A higher-risk project looks different. The extra floors already stand, the builder gets or seeks Premium FAR afterwards to bring them within limits, buyers are asked to take possession before an occupancy certificate, the RERA inventory does not match the plan, or the authority has served notices for unauthorised construction. Then the buyer should leave, or insist the problem is resolved before any payment.

What problems appear quietly after the deed is registered?

Registration can go through even when planning risk is present, because the Sub-Registrar normally does not examine planning legality in full. That is why many buyers find the problem only after paying stamp duty and taking a loan.

First comes occupancy. A delayed, partial, conditional or absent occupancy certificate can block lawful occupation, utility connections, association handover and resale. Second is khata or municipal transfer, which the local authority may refuse or delay if the flat or building portion is not treated as lawful. Third is enforcement: if the authority later acts against unauthorised portions, individual buyers can get pulled into litigation although the developer caused the deviation.

Fourth is mortgage enforcement. After a default, the bank may find that auction bidders discount the flat because of the planning dispute. A registered mortgage over a disputed unit remains a mortgage, but its market value and enforceability can suffer.

What should the agreement say if I decide to buy anyway?

Do not depend on general warranties. The agreement should state that the seller or promoter represents the flat, floor, tower, parking and common-area share are all covered by valid sanctioned plans and occupancy approvals, including any Premium FAR permission relied on. It should also require copies of the approval papers to be delivered before the final payment.

It should also divide the risk. If an approval is later withdrawn because the seller or promoter used Premium FAR to legalise an unauthorised portion, the buyer needs a refund, indemnity and cancellation route. In a resale, the seller may refuse broad warranties about the developer's conduct. Then verify the documents yourself rather than lean on a resale seller's promise.

For a loan-funded purchase, tie disbursement to the approval set. A ready sale deed is not reason enough for the bank to release money. It should insist that the sanctioned plan, revised plan, occupancy certificate and any qualification in the legal opinion are cleared at credit level.