Updated 26 October 2026. Earlier coverage, including our own bifurcation explainers, described the minister's announcement of 16 October and noted that the final rule text had not been seen. This guide sets out the plot standards in the final gazette, as summarised by NammaWard, and how they sit with the minister's half-acre relief.

Plot subdivision rules by site size

In practical terms (our conversions): 50 sq m is about 538 sq ft, a little more than a 20x25 ft plot; 6 m is about 19.7 ft; 3.5 m is about 11.5 ft; 2,000 sq m is about 21,530 sq ft, close to half an acre; 4,000 sq m is about 43,060 sq ft, roughly an acre.

  • Up to 2,000 sq m: each new plot needs road access, at least 6 m frontage, an access of at least 3.5 m if it does not abut a public road, and a minimum area of 50 sq m. Internal roads serving rear plots are held jointly in proportion to ownership (NammaWard).
  • 2,000 to 4,000 sq m: allowed on the same conditions. For A-eKhata sites in this band created without Section 17 approval, the applicant must relinquish land for parks, playgrounds, open space, civic amenities and roads, or pay the latest guidance value of that land (NammaWard).
  • Above 4,000 sq m: governed by Chapter 6 of the regulations, the layout rules (NammaWard).
  • Vacant converted land, or plots with buildings that lack A-Khata and Section 17 approval: single-plot or subdivision-layout approval is needed first (NammaWard).
  • Front setback on a public road: each new plot keeps the original site's front setback (NammaWard).

How this fits the minister's half-acre announcement

On 16 October 2026 Minister Krishna Byre Gowda announced that joint owners of land up to half an acre need no regular layout approval: they declare who gets which part, mark the access road for rear plots and upload road length and width online; the internal road need not be handed to the GBA but must stay a road while the plots remain separate (The Bengaluru Live, 17 October 2026). Between half an acre and one acre, owners may pay the guidance value of the 15% civic share instead of surrendering it (The Bengaluru Live).

The gazette bands of 2,000 and 4,000 sq m sit close to half an acre and one acre, and the jointly held internal road matches the minister's description (our reading). Where the two differ in wording, the notified regulation governs.

Family partition: the June draft and the objections

The top-ranking result for this search is a Deccan Herald report that a delegation asked Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to withdraw a provision in the 4 June 2026 draft that curbed subdivision of family-owned land above 2,000 sq m, calling it arbitrary and contrary to succession law; under the draft, owners seeking partition above half an acre would have to approach the BDA (Deccan Herald, headline and summary only; page not accessible to us). A second Deccan Herald headline reports Chalavadi Narayanaswamy urging the Governor to withdraw the proposal.

A King Stubb & Kasiva note of 14 October 2026, also ranking for this search, describes the amendments as easing plot consolidation and the division of inherited property, but gives no figures and says outcomes depend on the final provisions. On NammaWard's summary of the final text, sites from 2,000 to 4,000 sq m can be split on the same plot standards, with the civic-land or guidance-value condition applying only to A-eKhata sites created without Section 17 approval. If you are dividing inherited land in this band, get the planning authority's written view on which condition applies before drawing up the partition deed.

What does the guidance-value option cost?

Worked example (our arithmetic, illustrative only): if 15% of a 3,000 sq m site had to be given up, that is 450 sq m, about 4,844 sq ft. At a guidance value of ₹5,000 per sq ft, keeping that land would cost about ₹2.42 crore. The share the GBA actually asks for depends on the regulation and the site; the 15% figure is the one the minister cited for the half-acre to one-acre band (The Bengaluru Live). Look up your site's guidance value on Kaveri: /guidance-value.

Plot amalgamation rules

  • Only sites that abut each other and form one contiguous site can be amalgamated (NammaWard).
  • A non-primary drain or nala between them does not by itself bar amalgamation, but the buffer must be protected (NammaWard).
  • The merged site gets a single property ID; authorities keep access through buffers, and nala land stays public (NammaWard).

Buying a subdivided plot: checks

  • The subdivision approval or online bifurcation order for the parent site, with the plot number matching your sale deed.
  • Separate e-Khata for your plot after bifurcation, in the seller's name before you buy.
  • Frontage and access measured on site: 6 m frontage, and an access of 3.5 m or more if the plot is behind another.
  • Your share of the jointly held internal road written into the sale deed.
  • No drain, nala or lake buffer across the plot: Rajakaluve Buffer Zone 2026: 15, 10, 5 m in Final Zoning Rules.
  • A khata alone does not legalise a site (NammaWard). Check the conversion order and the layout or single-plot approval as well.