Cul-de-sacs, junctions and the land-locked plot: the geometry a layout has to obey

The short answer: a dead end may run 275 m at the very most, and a plot with no road is still entitled to one. Regulation 3.3 governs the geometry of a layout, and most of it is invisible on a brochure while being decisive on a site plan.

When a layout is required at all#

Chapter 3, Regulation 3.3.1, Obligation to Prepare Layout lists four triggers, and the first is broader than people expect.

The words to notice in the first row are entire contiguous holding. A second building on part of a larger holding pulls the whole holding into a layout proposal, which is why an owner developing incrementally still ends up planning the balance land.

Roads inside the layout#

Chapter 3, Regulation 3.3.2, Roads / Streets in Land Sub-division or Layout ties width to length, which is the opposite of the intuition that a longer road can be narrower because it serves fewer plots per metre.

Where plots of 100 sq m or less are proposed for Economically Weaker Sections, the table relaxes: a 4.5 m road up to 60.0 m of length, and 6.0 m for longer runs.

Once built, those roads may not stay private. Regulation 3.3.11 provides that whenever the Authority calls for it, internal layout roads are handed over to the Planning Authority by deed after development, with no compensation paid.

The cul-de-sac, and its four conditions#

Chapter 3, Regulation 3.3.10, Cul-de-sacs is short and every clause in it constrains a real design decision.

Cul-de-sacs giving access to plots may extend up to 150 m normally and 275 m maximum, with an additional turning space at 150 m. Four conditions:

1. Only in a residential area.
2. Only on straight roads.
3. The cul-de-sac end must be higher in level than the level of the starting point.
4. The turning space must be not less than 81 sq m, with no dimension below 9.0 m.

Junctions#

Two regulations govern what happens where roads meet, and both work by cutting the corner rather than by setting a distance.

Chapter 3, Regulation 3.3.12, Intersection of Roads^# applies to roads meeting at right angles: the rounding off at the intersection is done with the tangent length from the point of intersection to the curve being half the road width across the direction of the tangent. And crucially, the building shall also set back at the required marginal distance from this rounding off, not from the original corner.

Chapter 3, Regulation 3.3.13, Acute Angled Junctions covers junctions at less than 60 degrees: rounding off, cut off or similar treatment with tangent lengths from the intersection point. At an obtuse angle junction, the tangent length equals half the width of the road from which the vehicle enters. For both types, the radius for the junction rounding shall not be less than 6 m.

The corner plot loses twice, therefore: once to the rounding itself and again to the marginal distance measured from the new rounded line. That is on top of the 0.75 m compound wall limit across the road fanning, which applies to the same corner for the same sight line reason.

Highways, and the service road rule#

Chapter 3, Regulation 3.3.8, Access from the Highways / Classified Roads^* begins with a plain instruction: plots and buildings along highways and classified roads shall generally derive access from service roads. Direct access from the highway is for highway amenities such as a petrol pump, fuel station or hotel, and even then subject to the National Highways Act, 1956 and the State Highways Act, 1955.

The widths to be assumed when granting permission, unless the Development Plan, Regional Plan, planning proposal or TP scheme says otherwise:

Three notes govern the table. Where an existing road is wider than the table says, the greater width prevails. Where service roads were provided beyond the right of way under an earlier permission, they may be continued into adjoining land. And the widths may vary per guidelines or circulars from the respective department. The provision applies to Area Development Authorities, Metropolitan Region Development Authorities, Special Planning Authorities, New Town Development Authorities and Regional Plan areas.

The land-locked plot#

Chapter 3, Regulation 3.3.14, Land-locked Plot is one of the few provisions in the code that creates an entitlement against a neighbour.

Where a plot is surrounded on all sides by other plots or reservations and has no access to any street or road, the Authority may require access through an adjoining plot or plots, as far as possible nearest to the street, at the cost of the owner of the land-locked plot, and on such conditions as the Authority specifies.

Where the plot is land-locked by a reservation, access may be made available by adjusting the reservation within the owner's land without reduction in its area. The reservation moves rather than shrinks.

And the last sentence is the commercially significant one: a land-locked plot, up to 100 m, shall be considered as fronting on the main road from which access of minimum 9.0 m width is made available.

That is not just a right of way. It is a right to be treated, for regulatory purposes, as if the plot fronted the main road, within 100 m. Given how much in this code turns on the width of the road a plot fronts, that sentence can be worth more than the access itself.

Chapter 3, Regulation 3.3.15, Approach by Underpass or Over Bride for Adjoining Properties covers the related case of adjoining properties separated by a road, river or nallah: the Authority may allow the owner to build an underpass, over bridge or foot over bridge of the required size at his cost to ease movement across the properties.

What the register shows#

MahaRERA does not publish a layout drawing, a road width or an access arrangement. There is no field for any of it.

What the register does publish, free, is the filed land area and the buildings with their proposed and sanctioned floors, and those two together are a coarse but real check: a layout of a given area supports a certain number of buildings only if the road area, the recreational open space and the marginal distances all fit inside it. The 10 percent recreational open space is the other deduction from the same land.

Access, junction geometry and the cul-de-sac conditions are sanctioned plan questions, and the plan is a public document on the Authority's website for the life of the project, which is where they are actually answerable.

Related rule cards#

• Layout roads and minimum plot sizes
• Whether the road width makes your plot R1 or R2
• How to read a sanctioned plan without being an architect
• Recreational open space: the 10 percent

Where the filings come in#

Layout approval sits with the Planning Authority.

The register carries what was registered to sell, free at reragenie.com: the filed land area, the buildings and their floors, the sanctioned and sold units where filed, the promoter's extension history with reasons, the certifying professionals, and any complaints or litigation with case numbers.

ReraGenie's project analysis, Rs 2,999 for one project, reads the full filing and the documents behind it. The area consolidated report covers a whole micro-market at Rs 2,999 for the first project and Rs 1,999 per additional one.

Source: Unified Development Control and Promotion Regulations for Maharashtra, UDCPR as updated 30 January 2025. Sanctioned under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966.