Which is the right way of calculating UDS?

Question: I live in an apartment complex at Kovilambakkam, Chennai. It has 24 units and was built in 1999. It is a strong building of ground floor plus two floors, but lacking some basic facilities. There is no lift or reserved parking space. Each floor has eight units, of which 12 are 2BHK and 12 are 1BHK. The apartment I own was resale, purchased in 2006. The plot area is close to four grounds, located on the main road. In 2005, when I went for legal opinion to buy my flat, it was found that during the earlier stages of construction agreement by the builder, the total plot area was divided by 24 units from the total sq.ft. of approximately 9100+ sq.ft. It means, the undivided share of land (UDS) is the same for both 2BHK and 1BHK. I shared this information with the residents of the other 23 flats. They were not aware about this until then. My question is, is that the right way of calculating UDS? Citing the higher UDS that 1BHK owners have, while discussing demolishing the building and building a new one, 1BHK owners insisted that they needed a 2BHK! Please advice on what can be done.

Kurinji Selvan

Answer: The correct way of calculating the undivided share of land would be reckoning the built up area of the apartment vis-à-vis the total built up area of the entire complex. This way, bigger flats will have more undivided share of land component. In this case, irrespective of the area of the flat, undivided shares of land have been given equally. Normally, while going for redevelopment of the existing buildings, the ratio of land ownership of the existing owners would be taken into consideration for allotment of new apartments. The possibility of putting up additional construction would depend on the original FSI achieved and present FSI possible. The original allocation of undivided share was not equitable but it is too late to question the same at this juncture. However, by mutual discussions and consent of all the owners, an amicable scheme may be worked out.