Glossary

Real-estate terms, explained in a sentence

The words that come up in a builder’s sales office, accounts team and RERA filings, each answered in one or two sentences, with a fuller explanation on its own page.

A

Agreement for sale: An agreement for sale is the registered contract between builder and buyer that fixes the flat, the price, the payment schedule and the possession date. Under RERA, a builder may take at most 10% of the cost before it is registered.
Allotment letter: An allotment letter is the builder’s letter confirming that a specific flat or plot has been allotted to a buyer, with its price and the booking amount received. It comes before the agreement for sale.

C

Carpet area: Carpet area is a flat’s net usable floor area under RERA: it leaves out external walls, service shafts, exclusive balconies and open terraces, but counts internal walls.
Channel partner: A channel partner is a real-estate broker or agency that brings buyers to a builder’s project for a commission, usually under an empanelment agreement with a set brokerage scheme.
Commencement certificate (CC): A commencement certificate (CC) is the local planning authority’s permission to start construction under the approved building plans. It is often issued in stages, for example up to plinth first and then for the floors above.
Completion certificate: A completion certificate is the competent authority’s certificate that a real estate project has been built according to the sanctioned plan, layout and specifications. Its name and issuer vary by state.
Construction-linked plan (CLP): A construction-linked plan (CLP) is a payment plan in which the buyer pays instalments as construction reaches set stages, such as plinth, each slab and possession, instead of on fixed dates.

D

Demand letter: A demand letter is a builder’s letter asking a buyer to pay the next instalment, showing the stage reached, the amount, GST, the buyer’s TDS, overdue interest, the due date and the total.

E

Encumbrance certificate (EC): An encumbrance certificate (EC) is the registration department’s record of the registered transactions on a property, such as sales and mortgages, over a chosen period. A nil EC means none were found.

F

Floor rise charges: Floor rise charges are an extra amount per square foot added to a flat’s price for each floor above a base floor, so higher flats cost more than the same layout lower down.
Floor space index (FSI): Floor space index (FSI), or floor area ratio (FAR), is the total floor area a plot may be built to, divided by the plot’s area. An FSI of 2 on a 1,000 sq m plot allows 2,000 sq m.
Form 141: Form 141 is the challan-cum-statement under the Income-tax Rules, 2026 for paying and reporting the TDS a buyer deducts on a property purchase, and on some rent and other payments. It replaced Form 26QB.
Form 26QB: Form 26QB is the challan-cum-statement a property buyer used to pay and report TDS on the purchase. For payments from 1 April 2026 it is replaced by Form No. 141 under the Income-tax Rules 2026.

G

GST e-invoice: A GST e-invoice is a B2B tax invoice whose details are reported to a government Invoice Registration Portal (IRP), which returns an invoice reference number (IRN) and a signed QR code.

J

Joint development agreement (JDA): A joint development agreement (JDA) is a contract in which a landowner contributes land and a developer builds on it, and the two share the result as built-up area or as sale revenue.

M

Maintenance corpus: A maintenance corpus is a one-time deposit a builder collects from each buyer, usually at possession, to fund major repairs and replacements in the building. It belongs to the buyers and is handed to their association.

O

Occupancy certificate (OC): An occupancy certificate (OC) is the local authority’s certificate that a building was built as per the approved plans and is fit to live in. Flats should be handed over only after it is issued.

P

Possession letter: A possession letter is the builder’s letter that offers or records the handover of a flat to the buyer, with the possession date, the final dues and the documents handed over.
Preferential location charges (PLC): Preferential location charges (PLC) are an extra charge for a flat’s better position in a project, such as park-facing, corner or sea-view units, added per square foot or as a lump sum.

Q

Quarterly progress report (QPR): A quarterly progress report (QPR) is the update a builder must post on the RERA website every quarter for each registered project: bookings, approvals and the status of construction.

R

Ready reckoner rate: A ready reckoner rate is the rate a state publishes for each area to assess a property’s market value for stamp duty. Maharashtra calls it the annual statement of rates (ASR); Karnataka, the guidance value.
RERA designated account: A RERA designated account is the separate bank account into which a builder must deposit 70% of the money collected from a project’s buyers, for use only on its land and construction cost.
RERA Form 3: RERA Form 3 is the chartered accountant’s certificate a Maharashtra builder gives the bank to draw money from the RERA designated (70%) account, showing the cost incurred and the sum allowed.
RERA registration: RERA registration is the registration of a real estate project with the state’s Real Estate Regulatory Authority. A builder needs it before advertising, booking or selling any unit in the project.
Retention money: Retention money is the part of each running bill that the employer holds back from a contractor as security until the work is accepted. In government works it is usually 5% of each bill.
Running account bill (RA bill): A running account bill (RA bill) is an interim bill a contractor raises for work measured so far, paid before the work is complete, net of retention, advance recoveries and tax deductions.

S

Sale deed: A sale deed is the registered document that transfers ownership of a property from seller to buyer. It is stamped and registered with the sub-registrar, and it is the buyer’s main proof of title.
Stamp duty: Stamp duty is a state tax on documents such as the agreement for sale and the sale deed, at rates each state sets. In Maharashtra, a conveyance in a municipal corporation area pays 5% of the market value.
Super built-up area: Super built-up area is a flat’s carpet area plus its walls and a share of the building’s common areas, such as lobbies, stairs and lifts. It is always larger than the carpet area, by an amount each builder decides.

T

TDS on property: TDS on property is the income tax the buyer of a property worth ₹50 lakh or more deducts and deposits: 1% of the price or the stamp duty value, whichever is higher, under s.393(1) of the Income-tax Act 2025 (old s.194-IA).
Transferable development rights (TDR): Transferable development rights (TDR) are floor space credits given to an owner who hands over land for a public purpose. The owner can use them on another plot or transfer them to a builder who will.

U

Undivided share of land (UDS): An undivided share of land (UDS) is a flat owner’s proportionate share in the land and common areas of a building, owned jointly with the other owners and never split off from the flat.