There is no standard ratio
You will hear numbers quoted with confidence: forty-sixty, fifty-fifty, sometimes less. They are not rules. The split in a joint development (JD) is a negotiation, and the right figure for one plot can be wrong for the next street. Ratios quoted online for Bengaluru vary widely and come mostly from brokers and marketing pages, not from any published record.
What you can do is work out your share from the numbers for your own land. A developer does the same sum before making an offer. If you do it too, you can tell a fair offer from a low one.
What decides your share
| Factor | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Buildable area | The permitted floor area (FAR or FSI), set backs, road width and height limits decide how many square feet can be built and sold |
| Sale price | A higher price per square foot means more value to share after costs |
| Project type | Apartments, villas and plotted layouts carry different costs, timelines and risk |
| Approval and conversion costs | Conversion, plan sanction fees, betterment charges and any road widening reduce what is left |
| Construction cost | Rises with height, basements, lifts and specifications |
| Time and risk | A long or uncertain project needs a larger margin for the developer |
| Deposits and cash | Money paid to you up front is usually taken out of your share |
| Land quality | Clear title, road frontage, regular shape and no encroachment all help you |
Zoning and FAR are set by the planning authority for your area and differ between Bengaluru, other cities and towns, and rural planning areas. Get the actual figures for your land from the planning authority or an architect, not from a developer's brochure.
Working it out yourself
Here is the method, step by step. The figures you put in must be your own.
- Find the permitted built-up area. Multiply your land area by the FAR allowed for your zone and road width, then subtract what set backs and other rules take away. For a plotted layout, take the saleable plot area left after roads, parks and civic amenity land are given up under the layout rules.
- Estimate the saleable area. Apartments are sold on carpet area under RERA, so allow for walls, lobbies, stairs and lifts.
- Estimate the total sale value. Multiply saleable area by a realistic price for new projects close by. Use prices for completed sales, not asking prices.
- List the developer's costs: construction, approvals and fees, conversion if needed, marketing and sales, finance, and GST the developer cannot recover.
- Allow the developer a reasonable profit margin for its money and risk.
- What remains is the value of your land in the project. Divide it by the total sale value to get your share.
- Compare this with the outright sale value of your land today, and with what you would earn by waiting.
If the developer's offer is far below your number, ask which of your assumptions it disagrees with. A good developer will show its working. One that will not is telling you something.
The share is only as good as the developer's ability to finish. A generous ratio from a weak developer is worth less than a fair ratio from one that delivers on time.
Area share, revenue share and deposits
In an area-sharing deal you get a fixed percentage of the built-up area or plots. In a revenue-sharing deal you get a fixed percentage of the money from every sale. Many deals add a deposit paid to you at signing.
- Area share gives you units you can keep, rent or sell. Insist that the units are identified on the approved plan, and that your units are spread fairly across floors, facings and corners, not all on the worst side.
- Revenue share depends on the developer's price and sales records. Ask for an escrow account, a minimum price per square foot, and access to every sale deed.
- Refundable deposits come back to the developer when your share is handed over. Non-refundable deposits are part of the price for your land and are taxed as such.
Ask how the developer's GST, parking charges, club fees and other extras are split. In revenue sharing these can be kept outside the shared revenue unless your agreement says otherwise.
Who pays for what
The ratio means little until you know who carries each cost. Settle these in writing before you agree a number.
- DC conversion fees and any conversion penalty
- Building plan or layout approval fees, betterment and development charges
- K-RERA registration and compliance
- Clearing any existing loan or charge on the land
- Survey, podi, boundary fixing and any fencing
- Stamp duty and registration on the JDA, GPA and sale deeds
- Property tax until completion
- Utility connections, water and sewage arrangements
- GST on your units, and income tax on your gains
A higher ratio with all of these on your side can leave you worse off than a lower ratio where the developer pays them.
How location changes the answer
The same method gives different answers in different places. In Bengaluru, high land values and dense building rules make apartment JDs common. In Hassan, Mudigere or Chikkamagaluru, plotted layouts are often the better fit, because the extra floors that apartments need may not sell. Plotted JDs have lower construction cost but give up more land to roads and parks. Our guide to joint development in Hassan and Bengaluru covers the difference.
Price data for small towns is thin. You can check guidance values on the Kaveri portal, but guidance value is not market price. Our article on guidance value and market price explains the gap.
Before you agree a number
- Get the buildable area from an independent architect.
- Get a CA to model the tax, because tax on a JD can fall due before you sell your units. See tax on a joint development deal.
- Get the share written into the JDA as unit numbers or plot numbers, not only a percentage.
- Link delay to compensation, so a slow project costs the developer and not only you. See delay, default and exit clauses.
- Check the developer before you negotiate. See choosing a joint development developer.
For the full sequence from first talk to handover, read our landowner's guide to joint development.
How we help
We build a share model for your land from its buildable area and current local sales, and use it to test developers' offers. We tell you plainly whether a JD or an outright sale serves you better. See our joint development service, or send us your land details.
