Net area is what you actually live in. Developers sell you built-up or sellable area. The gap is where the per-sqft quote becomes misleading.
Net area is the usable internal floor space of a unit — measured from the inside face of the walls, excluding internal partitions, columns, ducts, and service shafts. It is the footprint you can furnish, walk through, and use. Dubai developers don’t always publish net area openly; some list only built-up area (which includes pro-rata share of external walls) or sellable area (which includes share of common space).
The loss factor from built-up to net varies by building: slim-plate towers with efficient cores lose around 10%; luxury buildings with thick walls, wide balconies, and large cores can lose up to 22%. A quoted 1,100 sqft 2BR might have a net liveable area anywhere between 900 and 1,000 sqft.
When comparing two units at similar built-up sqft across different buildings, request net-area numbers if not stated. If the developer won’t provide, scale the floor plan against known dimensions.
A client last year was comparing two 1,200 sqft 2BRs. Built-up identical. Net area differed by 80 sqft. At AED 1,800/sqft equivalent, that’s AED 144k of hidden price difference.
Built-up is the sticker. Net area is the truth.
Related: GFA, Sellable Area, Price per sqft, Floor Plan.
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