Floor Area Ratio (FAR)
Definition of "Floor Area Ratio (FAR)"
The ratio between a structure's total floor area and the total land area of the land upon which it is constructed. The floor area ratio definition is the ratio of the total amount of usable floor area that the building has to offer the homeowner, from the total area of the property on which the building has been constructed. The floor area ratio must conform to the building code's floor area specifications. A bigger floor area ratio is likely to represent urban highly populated areas, with high population density per square mile where there are more high rise apartment buildings and condominiums instead of detached family homes. The area ratio is used by local governments for use with zoning codes issues and delimitations.
The FAR (Floor Area Ratio) is calculated by dividing the total building floor area by the total building lot square area:
Floor Area Ratio = Total Building Floor Area/Gross Lot Area
What is the Floor Area Ratio?
When you consider the floor area ratio you don’t only look at the footprint of the building but at the whole floor area of the building. The things that are taken out of the equation in this calculation are all the unoccupied areas of the area like basements, stairs, elevator shafts, and parking garages.
What variates the floor area ratio of a city are factors like population density, patterns of population growth, and activities that involve construction in a city, residential neighborhoods, condominiums, etc. This affects the nature space, parks in cities where residential areas take over. These floor area ratios of cities are determined by local governments that enforce regulations and restrictions of new constructions to stabilize the balance of this ratio.
Being a key determinant of developments in any country, the floor area ratio is a deterrent to construction but it keeps it regularized. Not only the real estate industry struggles to maintain an acceptable level of floor area ratio, but any kind of industry throughout the country in order to open up space and the resources of the land to the real estate developers. A high floor area ratio allows developers to construct buildings for homebuyers, businesses, and industries, which increases sales and provides supply for increasing demand.
Popular Real Estate Terms
Mortgage placed on a property after a previous mortgage. It can be a second, third, etc. mortgage. A junior mortgage is subordinate to the terms of a previous mortgage. Junior mortgages ...
Amount required to payoff the full balance of the mortgage today. The amount equals the principal balance plus any prepayment penalty. ...
Allocating common or central costs to each unit of property. An example is assigning to each owner of an apartment based on the number of rooms occupied the cost incurred by the landlord to ...
A backfill defines the act of replacing a vacant lot. People use a backfill as a replacement for an unoccupied position. Backfill in construction and archaeology! The most common ...
Claim by a real estate broker that his or her actions were the principal cause of the completion of a property sale between two parties. A successful procuring cause claim would entitle a ...
Natural resource, such as oil, coal, and timber, having a limited useful life and subject to depletion. Such assets decrease in worth primarily due to the extraction of the valued commodity ...
The rate at which a market can absorb additional units of supply without causing market saturation and severe price distortions. For example, during a recessionary period, many homeowners ...
A broad definition of termite clause is a provision in a contract for the sale of real property that gives the purchaser the right, at his or her expense, to have the property inspected for ...
The definition of a rambler house is quite simple in nowadays circumstances as any one-story home or ranch is also referred to as a rambler. The typical rambler house, however, has some ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.