Built-Up Area Vs Land Area In Malaysia: What Is The Difference?
Buying a home is exciting, but what’s not exciting is confusion over numbers, sizes, and technical jargon you don’t understand.
As a first-time homebuyer, it can be nerve-wracking to talk about property, because you don’t want to show just how inexperienced you are.
One thing beginners may ask when purchasing property is, “What is 20’ × 70’?” This term pops up often when discussing property sizes, and developers love to throw it in midway through the conversation.
While the values are interchangeable, this term refers to the land area of the property – specifically, the measurement of the unit in width and length.
Land area is not the same as a built-up area, so make sure you know the difference before purchasing a home!
Built-Up Area Vs. Land Area: What Is The Difference?
Essentially, land area equates to the size of the land the property is on, whereas the built-up area is the size of the property where space can be used – such as bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, and more.
The size of the land area is often described as “(width in feet) × (length in feet)”, like 18′ x 65′, 20’ × 70’, and 22′ x 75′. It may sound complex at first, but the simple multiplication will give you the total land area in square feet.
Land Area Size:
- 18′ x 65′ = 1,170 sq ft
- 20’ × 70’ = 1,400 sq ft
- 22′ x 75′ = 1,650 sq ft
On the other hand, built-up area sizes are easier to understand as they are measured and written in square feet.
The total built-up area includes the sizes of all storeys. Hence, if a double-storey terrace house‘s first floor measures 500 sq ft and the second floor measures 700 sq ft, the property will have a total built-up area of 1,200 sq ft.
There may be cases where the built-up area is larger than the land area, and that’s perfectly normal! It’s not a miscalculation or printing error, but a way multi-storey homes are measured, especially those with three or four storeys.
However, one thing to note is that land area sizes are solely for landed properties. For strata-titled homes such as condominiums, apartments, and duplexes, only a built-up area size will be provided as there is no excess land or outdoor space for the unit.
How To Find My Property’s Land Area Size And Built-Up?
To find out your property’s land area and built-up area size, you can find it next to the unit’s floorplan, or on the last page of the brochure in the fine print.
The measurements will be written as so:
- Land Area: 20’ × 70
- Built-Up Area: 1,200 sq ft
What Do The Different Land Area Sizes Mean In Malaysia?
20’ × 70’, 32’ × 75’, 65’ × 95’, what do they all mean and how does one understand them better?
At a glance, it can be puzzling to piece together how these numbers correlate to the size of a property.
It gets even more confusing when others chime in with more numbers and opinions of “It’s too small/big”, as these are pretty subjective terms!
To make it easier to understand, let’s put it into the perspective of the number of cars that can fit into a property.
What Is The Standard House Size In Malaysia?
Like property prices, house sizes differ based on location; not just all over the world, but in Malaysia too!
In a 2017 report, the data from National Property Information Centre (NAPIC), United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) and World Bank revealed that newly-launched residential homes in Negeri Sembilan had the largest average size (1,970 sq ft) in Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley had the smallest average home size of 827 sq ft and 890 sq ft, respectively.
While those numbers may look small, it’s worth noting that the standard house size in Malaysia – which is 1,264 sq ft – is actually the largest among several ASEAN countries, beating out Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Internationally, Malaysia is one of the top 10 countries with the largest average house size, trailing just behind Turkey and Ireland.
That, coupled with the reasonable cost of living, could be one of the reasons why Malaysia is one of the most favoured countries for expats.
