BUILD YOUR HOUSE IN A SMALL PLOT
Population explosion in the latter half of the 20th century, and massive immigration of labour forces into the urban areas in search of jobs, have resulted in scarcity and high price of land in the urban area. This has been driving people into building houses on a smaller plot. Understanding the situation, Kerala Government has relaxed many rules for easing people to build residential buildings in a small plot.What is a ‘Small Plot’, as defined in Kerala Building Rules?
A plot not exceeding 125 sq. m (3 cents) of area, is generally classified as small plots.
The provisions regarding F.S.I., coverage, access width, height restriction concerning the width of the road and the yard abutting the road, off-street parking, dimension concerning building parts, light and ventilation shall not apply to buildings constructed in a small plot.
The setback distance in the front yard can be reduced to 1.8 m.and on the rear side can be reduced to 1 m. Moreover, in the side yard, a minimum setback of 0.6 m is only required.
The setback distance on any side other than the front yard of the building can further be reduced to 0.5 metres, but no openings shall be permitted on that side. There are also special cases such as, other than the front yard, if you have the written consent of the neighbouring landowner, you can build along the boundary wall.
Before the construction of a building, understanding the building rules is very important and will truly help from any related issues that might occur in future. Building a house in a small plot mostly requires high planning to effectively utilise the spaces. The relaxation in-laws, as described above, will adversely affect the natural ventilation and entry of natural light. It is therefore always advisable to approach a good engineer to overcome these limitations and to introduce some countermeasure to improve the air circulation in the building. The Engineer can also help you to drastically limit the construction cost for the building.
If one can make good use of all these relaxations provided in the rules, understand the limitation and effectively provide countermeasures, building a stunning residential building in a small plot is possible.
By,
ANSIYA T A,
B.Tech , C. Eng (I), A.M.I.E.
Chartered Engineer and Valuer
M/s K Ramachandran Associates.
