MPD-2047 for Delhi House Owners: What the New Master Plan Changed for Plotted Houses, Parking, Basements and Mixed Use

The Master Plan for Delhi 2047 came into force on 20 August 2026, the day it was published in the Gazette as S.O. 4597(E). The notification approves it 'as an extensive modification to the Master Plan for Delhi- 2021', and the DDA's FAQ on the new plan puts it plainly: 'MPD-2047 supersedes the MPD-2021.' For the owner of a residential plot, the headline figures are the same: ground coverage, FAR, the 15 m and 17.5 m height limits and the setbacks have not moved. What has changed is narrower and matters more at the design stage. Plots above 250 sqm may hold fewer dwelling units. A stilt is compulsory on plots above 100 sqm up to 750 sqm. Every plot, however small, must find room for a car within the plot. A basement may now run to the setback line, but only as far as parking and services need. No new mixed-use or commercial streets will be notified. And some sentences of MPD-2021 that owners relied on, including the one saying a stilt-plus-four house is not a high-rise, are not repeated. This guide covers each change, what stayed the same, and what it means for a plan approved before 20 August.

Does MPD-2047 Apply to Your House?

It depends on when your plan was approved and what you do next. The FAQ says 'any plan approved under earlier Master Plans shall be deemed to have been approved under MPD-2047', and in answer to its fourth question: 'Plans approved prior to notification of MPD-2047 shall continue as per earlier norms. The new norms shall apply only when additional FAR is availed, wherever applicable, or when a revised plan is sanctioned.' Parking follows the same line: where an earlier sanction used the previous plan's parking standards, 'the same shall continue', and the new standards apply to the additional FAR availed after notification (para 5.1.6(xvi)). So a house under construction to a valid sanction carries on as approved, while a new sanction, a revised plan or an added floor is judged under MPD-2047. On what kind of rebuilding is possible, the FAQ says 'Only reconstruction shall be allowed on all residential plots as per the prescribed FAR, unless otherwise specified. Redevelopment shall not be allowed.' Area-wide regeneration of plotted colonies is left to schemes, with a minimum of 3,000 sqm for residential regeneration (para 4.5.3).

What Stayed the Same?

Most of the numbers. In Table 7.2, the development controls for plotted housing, the maximum ground coverage and FAR are identical to MPD-2021 in every plot category: 90% and FAR 350 up to 100 sqm, 75% and FAR 300 above 100 sqm up to 250 sqm, 75% and FAR 225 above 250 sqm up to 750 sqm, and 50% and FAR 200 above that. The height limit is still 15 m, 'Ground+3 habitable floors', on a plot without stilt parking, and 17.5 m, 'stilt + 4 habitable floors', with it (control (iv)). The setbacks in Table 7.3 are unchanged: none up to 100 sqm, 3 m at the front only above 100 sqm up to 250 sqm, and 3 m front, rear and one side above 250 sqm up to 500 sqm. The local body may still disregard a variation of up to 2% in plot size arising from conversion of square yards to square metres (para 5.1.6(v)). And anyone seeking sanction or regularisation of additional FAR or height must still 'submit a certificate of structural safety obtained from a structural engineer' (para 5.1.6(xii)). Our gaj plot guide turns these controls into square feet for the common plot sizes.

How Many Flats Can a Plot Hold Now?

Fewer on plots above 250 sqm. Table 7.2 keeps the dwelling-unit limit at 3 for plots up to 50 sqm and 4 for plots above 50 sqm up to 250 sqm, but cuts it in every category above that. Above 250 sqm up to 750 sqm (roughly 300 to 900 gaj) the limit falls from 6 under MPD-2021 to 5. Above 750 sqm up to 1,500 sqm it falls from 9 to 7. Above 1,500 sqm up to 2,250 sqm it falls from 12 to 10, and every larger category, for which MPD-2021 allowed 15, 18 or 21 units, is now capped at 10. Because the FAR is unchanged, the same floor area is shared among fewer, larger units. Two related controls under the table: a servant quarter must be between 11 and 25 sqm, and 'If larger in size, the servant's quarter shall be counted as a separate dwelling unit' (control (ix)); and subdivision of a plot is not permitted, while two plots of up to 64 sqm may be amalgamated on conditions (controls (vii) and (viii)). An owner who planned six builder floors on a 300 gaj plot under the old table should have the architect redo the unit layout before the sanction drawings go in.

Is a Stilt Now Compulsory?

On most mid-sized plots, yes. Control (vi) under Table 7.2 reads: 'Provision of stilt shall be mandatory for plots with area above 100 sqm up to 750 sqm. For plots above 750 sqm area, parking may be provided in the setback/stilt to achieve parking/ECS as per norms.' A stilt built to the bye-laws and used for parking 'shall not be included in FAR but will be counted towards the height of the building' (control (v)). MPD-2021's plotted-housing controls did not make a stilt compulsory. Two other clauses relax the rule in particular places: in the Walled City's notified heritage areas 'the provision of mandatory stilt parking shall not apply' (para 3.3.1(ii)(a)(v)), and for plots used for permitted non-residential activity, 'Boundary walls and stilts shall be optional on plots along the main access road' (para 13.4.9(ii)(e)). The plan does not say whether that second relaxation reaches a purely residential plot on such a road, so confirm it with the MCD for your plot. An open stilt under four floors is a soft storey in seismic zone IV, and the columns and walls around it need design attention; our stilt plus four guide and earthquake-resistant construction guide explain what to ask your engineer.

What Parking Does a House Need Now?

A car space on every plot, within the plot. Table 11.7 sets the plotted-housing standard at '1.0 ECS in plots of size upto 250 sqm', '2.0 ECS in plots of size above 250-300 sqm' and '1.0 ECS for every 100 sqm FAR area, in plots exceeding 300 sqm', where an ECS is an equivalent car space. MPD-2021 asked for nothing below 250 sqm and counted the larger plots on built-up area rather than FAR area. The plan adds that 'Parking requirement shall be fully met within the plot' and that the area used for parking 'shall be free from FAR' (para 11.1.2(vi) and (xi)), and a note to the table allows the parking norms of the preceding category where the permissible FAR cannot otherwise be achieved. For planning, Table 11.5 allows 23 sqm for an open car space, 28 sqm for one covered at ground level and 32 sqm for one in a basement. Two rules connect parking to future floors: a revised plan can use additional FAR 'only if adequate parking provision is made within the plot itself' (para 5.1.6(xv)), and parking that is misused is penalised and must be restored by the owner (para 5.1.6(xi)).

What Changed for Basements?

Their extent. MPD-2021 said a house basement 'shall not extend beyond the coverage on the ground floor', though it could run under the internal courtyard and shaft. MPD-2047's para 13.1.3 replaces that with three rules. A basement 'shall not be counted towards FAR if used for incidental storage, services, utilities and parking'. In a residential plot, a basement 'used for permissible mixed-use activities shall be counted towards FAR'. And basements 'may be permitted up to the setback line free of FAR only up to maximum equivalent of the parking and services requirement with prior approval of the concerned agencies/statutory bodies'. In practice that ties a basement beyond the footprint to the parking and services it actually houses, so settle its size and use at the sanction stage. Our basement construction guide covers the waterproofing and excavation side.

What Did MPD-2047 Drop?

Several sentences that owners and their architects quoted. MPD-2021 said of a stilt-plus-four house of 17.5 m: 'Such residential building shall not be considered as high rise building. For purpose of fire and life safety requirements, clearance of Fire Department will be obtained by the individual plot owner.' MPD-2047 does not repeat it, has no definition of a high-rise, and says instead that height 'shall be subject to clearance from statutory bodies' (para 7.2.5(i)). The Supreme Court's 2022 ruling that such a house is not a high-rise rested on the MPD-2021 wording, so whether it carries over is now an open question; our Fire NOC guide sets out what that means for a new house. MPD-2021's requirement of 'a minimum 2m x 2m open courtyard' on plots of 50 to 100 sqm is gone, though the bye-laws' light and ventilation rules still govern every room. And the old notes allowing regularisation of 100% ground coverage for construction existing on 22 September 2006, and guaranteeing norms no lower than MPD-2001, are not carried forward.

Can You Still Run a Clinic, Office or Shop From Home?

Yes, within tighter limits. The 2,183 mixed-use streets and 355 commercial streets already notified 'shall continue with the activities as already permitted', but 'No new mixed use and commercial streets shall be notified during the Plan period' (paras 13.4.2 and 13.4.6). On roads of 30 m right of way or more, a residential plot in any colony may carry commercial activity 'on ground floor or first lower floor (in case of stilt), subject to payment of charges'. A registered professional, such as a doctor, lawyer, architect, chartered accountant or engineer, may practise from a single-unit plot 'on any one floor only, but restricted to less than 50% of the permissible or sanctioned FAR' (para 13.4.5). Small shops are capped at 20 sqm each on the ground floor, numbering no more than the plot's dwelling units or four, whichever is less, and only one in A and B category colonies (para 13.4.8), where banks, NGOs, coaching centres, vocational training and hostels or PGs are not permitted at all. Every mixed-use plot must register with the local body and provide '2.0 ECS/100 sqm of the area being used for non-residential activity', with no relaxation (para 13.4.9), and a notified street that does not get its improvement plan prepared within 3 years and carried out within 5 'shall be deemed de-notified'. Our mixed use guide covers the charges and the building work.

What Should an Owner Do Now?

If you hold a sanction from before 20 August 2026, build to it; the earlier norms continue for that plan. If you plan a new house, a rebuild, a revised plan or an added floor, have your architect check five things under MPD-2047 before the drawings start: the plot's category in square metres and its dwelling-unit limit; whether the stilt is compulsory on your plot; the car spaces the plot must hold, inside the plot; the basement's extent against the parking and services it houses; and, for any extra floor area, the additional FAR charges, which the plan says are payable 'at rates notified with the approval of Central Government from time to time' (para 7.2.5(vi)), together with the structural safety certificate. Our guides to adding a floor and the MCD building approval process cover the steps after that, and our GRAP guide explains why demolition and earthwork are best finished before the winter restrictions.

Nirman Ved builds houses in Delhi to the master plan and bye-laws in force, with your architect and structural engineer, from stilt and parking layout through to finishing. Our house construction packages start from ₹1,500 per sqft of built-up area, and the stilt and any basement are priced as their own lines after the free site visit. We are trusted by DAV Pitampura and DPS Dwarka for campus civil repairs and maintenance. To find out what MPD-2047 means for your plot, call +91-7838355055 or book a free site visit.