Commonly used Measurement Units in South India and Hill Stations

Most often we come across a variety of measurement units when we deal with properties

But do we know how they are related?

Or when they started to be used?

In this blog, we are to discover the most commonly used units for measurement in real estate, along with units exclusive to regions in South India and the impact / application of them at real estate in Ooty, Kodaikanal, Coonoor, Kotagiri, Gudalur and other Tamilnadu hill stations 

Globally used units

There are 5 globally recognised units of measurement as given below,

1. Square foot
2. Square yard
3. Square meter
4. Acre
5. Hectare

Square foot - sq. ft, sf, ft²,'²

• It is the unit used most frequently while referring to measurement of properties
• One square foot is defined as the area of a square with sides equal to 1 foot
• The value of 1 foot is defined by the International Yard and Pound Agreement of 1959,
• 1 foot = 0.3048 meters or 12 inches (The length of an average man’s foot!)
• Square foot is used mainly in the USA, UKand India. It is also used in the African countries of Ghana, Liberia, and in Myanmar, Singapore, Hong Kong.
• In India, the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) has mandated that property measurements be given in Square foot

Square yard

• 1Yard equals 3 Feet or 36 inches
• One square yard thus is equal to 9 sq. ft
• Yard came into existence as a measure of a man’s belt or girdle.

Square meter - m²

• Square meter (American spelling) or square metre (International spelling) is the area of a square whose sides are 1 meter
• 1 square meter = 10.764 sq. ft

Acre

• To understand acre, one must understand two other terminologies; Chain and Furlong
• 1 Chain is a unit of measurement that is equal to 66 ft
• 1 Furlong is equal to 1/8^th of a mile and equals 660 ft
• 1 Acre is represented as 1 Chain * 1 Furlong = 66 * 660 = 43,560 sq. ft
• It is interesting to note that Furlong was traditionally denoted as the distance a team of oxen could plough continuously without rest

Hectare– ha

• One hectare is the area of a square whose side is 100 metre
• 1 ha = 2.471 acre = 1,07,637 sq. ft
• Hectare was first authorised by the French Revolutionary Government in 1795!

Quick Recap

Units Specific to South India

Units used in Tamil Nadu Hill Station Real Estate

If you have interested to buy independent house, villa, apartment, commercial building or farm house in Ooty, Kodaikanal, Coonoor, Kotagiri, Gudalur, Yercaud, Yelagiri, Valparai, Kolli hills, Courtallam, Sirumalai, Manjolai and Top slip, Square feet is the unit predominantly used. Though ground is a terminology popularly used in cities like Chennai and in plains, they are not at all used in hill stations.

Whereas if you want to buy residential plots, commercial land in Ooty, Kodaikanal, Coonoor, Kotagiri, Gudalur, rest of Nilgiris, other Tamil Nadu hill stations in western and eastern ghat, they are defined in square feet or cents normally.

Similarly if you want to buy farm land, estate in Ooty, Kodaikanal and other TN hill stations, smaller piece of lands are specified in cents, acre and bigger estates are mentioned in acre and hectare. Hills & Wills is an online property-advertising platform dedicated exclusively to hill-station properties across India. Its hill-specific listing features enable advertisers to specify the advertised land extent and other relevant property particulars, while allowing interested users to search, view and compare the advertised information and connect directly with advertisers.

Measuring land on flat terrain in the plains is generally easier, whereas measurement in hill stations may be more complex because of uneven, sloping and rocky terrain. The measurement techniques used for hill-station land may therefore differ. If you intend to buy hill-station land, you should independently verify its measurements through an appropriately qualified surveyor or other authorised professional because the measured extent is directly related to the purchase price. Measuring a building generally does not involve the same terrain-related complications and may be similar to measurement in the plains.