Buying a Residential Plot in Bangalore: A Seven-Step Checklist

Buying a residential plot in and around Bangalore involves more offices and more papers than buying a flat. This checklist sets out the checks in the order they should be done, from the approving authority to the registration desk. It covers the approval of the layout, the conversion of the land, the title, the khata, the RERA registration, the site itself and the costs.

Step 1: Find Out Who Approved the Layout

The first question is which planning authority has jurisdiction over the land, because only that authority can sanction a residential layout. A plot is as good as the layout plan behind it. The main bodies are these:

• The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), which forms and allots its own layouts and has approved many private ones.
• The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) and its five city corporations, which replaced the BBMP in September 2025 and look after khata, tax and building plans in the city.
• The local planning authorities under the Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA), for areas such as Anekal, Hoskote, Nelamangala and Kanakapura.
• The Bangalore International Airport Area Planning Authority (BIAAPA), for the villages around the airport.
• The Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Area Planning Authority (BMICAPA), for the corridor towards Bidadi.

A gram panchayat keeps property records and collects tax, but it does not sanction layouts. A phrase such as "BMRDA approved" in an advertisement proves nothing by itself. The buyer should ask for the sanctioned layout plan with its approval number and date, and confirm it at the office that issued it.

Layouts are also released for sale in stages, as the developer finishes roads, drains and other works. The release order shows whether the particular plot number has been released. A plot that is still held back by the authority should not be bought.

Step 2: Confirm the Land Conversion

Farmland must be converted to residential use before it is sold as house sites. The permission comes from the Deputy Commissioner under Section 95 of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964. The conversion order lists the survey numbers and the extent converted, and these must match the layout plan and the sale deed.

Rules notified in September 2025 changed the route for land inside an approved master plan. Where the land use fits the zoning, the planning authority now handles the conversion along with the plan approval. Outside master plan areas, the Deputy Commissioner still decides. In both cases the RTC, also called the pahani, should show the land as converted.

The master plan zone needs its own check. Land shown as agricultural zone, often called green belt, or as a valley, tank or buffer area cannot carry an approved residential layout. A plot sold as a "farm plot" or "farmland" remains agricultural land, whatever the advertisement suggests.

Step 3: Trace the Title

Title is the chain of ownership from the earliest recorded owner to the present seller. A lawyer should read the full chain, and these are the papers to collect:

• The mother deed and every later deed: sale, partition, gift, release or will.
• The encumbrance certificate from the sub-registrar's office, ideally for 30 years.
• The RTC and the mutation extracts for each survey number, for the same period.
• The family tree of the original landowners, with the consent of every person who holds a share.
• Any joint development agreement and power of attorney between the landowner and the developer.
• Tax receipts paid to date.

Two points deserve special care. Land granted by the government to members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes cannot be transferred without government permission under a 1978 Karnataka law. A sale that ignores this can be set aside years later. The grant history of each survey number should therefore be checked in the revenue records.

Older articles also warn about Sections 79A and 79B of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, which once barred many people from buying farmland. Those sections were removed in 2020. The limit on how much agricultural land a family may hold still applies, and conversion is still needed before a house is built.

Step 4: Read the Khata

The khata is the property's entry in the local body's tax register. It is not a title document, but registration, loans and building plans all depend on it. The form of the record changes with the location:

• Inside the city corporations: an e-khata, which has been needed for registration since October 2024, showing the A or the B register.
• In a gram panchayat: the e-Swathu records, Form 9 and Form 11A, for a plot in an approved layout on converted land.
• In a town or city municipal council: the municipal khata of that council.

A B register entry in the city, or a Form 11B in a panchayat, marks property that lacks an approved layout or conversion. Banks do not lend freely on such plots, and a building plan is hard to get. A lower price on such a plot reflects that risk and is not a bargain.

Step 5: Check the RERA Registration

A layout is a real estate project under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016. Section 3 requires registration before any plot is advertised or sold, unless the land is 500 sq m or less or the units number eight or fewer. Nearly every developer layout crosses that limit.

The Karnataka RERA portal shows the registered name, the promoter, the survey numbers, the number of plots, the approved plan and the completion date. It also carries the quarterly progress updates and any complaints. A buyer should match the survey numbers on the portal with the conversion order and the layout plan, and pay a booking amount only after the registration number is issued.

Step 6: Inspect the Plot on the Ground

Paper checks do not replace a visit with the approved plan in hand. The points to confirm on site are these:

• Dimensions and boundaries, measured by a licensed surveyor against the plan.
• The road in front of the plot, its width, and a public approach road up to the layout.
• Parks and civic amenity sites kept open as the plan shows.
• Drains, water lines, sewer lines and power lines actually laid.
• Storm water drains, lake edges and high-tension lines nearby, each of which carries a no-build buffer.
• Any acquisition notification for a road, rail line or industrial area over the survey number.
• Water: the source, the borewell yield and the supply planned by the local body.

Plots near the airport and other airfields also come with height limits on what may be built. Corner plots and plots beside a drain should be checked for the setbacks that reduce the buildable area. These checks take a day or two and prevent the costliest surprises.

Step 7: Budget for the Full Cost

Stamp duty in Karnataka is 5% on property above Rs. 45 Lakhs, which becomes 5.6% with the cess and surcharge, and the registration fee is 2%. On a plot of Rs. 80 Lakhs, that is Rs. 4.48 Lakhs of duty and Rs. 1.6 Lakhs of registration fee, or Rs. 6.08 Lakhs together. Both are worked out on the sale value or the guidance value, whichever is higher.

Banks lend a smaller share of the price on a plot than on a flat, and usually expect a house to be built within a set period. The lender's own legal and technical report is a useful second check on the papers. The EMI calculator gives the monthly payment and the upfront cash for any loan amount.

Every payment should go through a bank account to the name printed on the agreement. The sale deed should state the full price, the plot number, its measurements and boundaries, and the survey numbers. After registration, the khata is transferred to the buyer's name and tax is paid from that year on.

Where These Checks Matter Most

Most plotted supply is on the edges of the city: around Devanahalli and the airport, off Sarjapur Road and Hoskote, and on the Mysore Road and Kanakapura Road sides. Each of these belts falls under a different planning authority. The order of the checks stays the same, and only the office that issued each paper changes.

A buyer who completes the seven steps before paying the booking amount has covered the common causes of plot disputes. The work is easier with a property lawyer and a surveyor engaged from the start. Their fees are small against the price of the land.