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
Stature regulating the use of credit information. Allows consumers such as prospective homeowners access to their credit files. It requires a lender to explain how loan interest is ...
Principal highway designed to divert traffic around a major urban area in order to limit congestion and expedite traffic flow. A belt highway is connected to the urban area by main highways ...
lender who charges an exorbitant interest rate, which is typically illegal because it exceeds the interest rate allowed in the state. A borrower may go to a loan shark if he cannot obtain ...
Loan that allows the borrower to pay only the interest for the first few years of the loan. ...
List of architectural design items needing to be corrected and resolved prior to finalizing a building design. ...
Listing of all of the plats of subdivided plots in a jurisdiction showing the location, boundaries, and plat owners. A plat book normally shows other improvements including roads, blocks, ...
In the business world, the definition of override means a salesperson paying a commission to a supervisor or another agent. The meaning of override refers to an arrangement for acquitting ...
Contractual clause allowing one or both parties to terminate the agreement if a specified occurrence takes places. This is a cancellation clause, which allows the agreement to become null ...
Road or highway acting as a frontage boundary. ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.