Smash The Patriarchy: Here’s Why Indian Women Are Buying More Homes.

Owning a home is perhaps one of the biggest accomplishments for anyone. Apart from creating an asset under your name and building a safety net for yourself, there are several reasons why it’s important to own a home, especially in today’s times. Interestingly, studies suggest that more and more Indian women are now opening up to buying their own homes, stepping away from the shadows of their fathers and husbands. In fact, owning a home is one of their top preferences when it comes to correctly investing their money. This amazing and welcome change has resulted in home loan providers designing exceptional benefits and opportunities for women. What are they? Read on to find out! 

Lower Interest Rate 

Women enjoy the privilege of paying a lower interest rate on home loans. A home loan is a big deal, and an exception to the interest rate can be a huge support. The interest rate is lower by 0.05 to 0.1%, making it relatively easier to pay the EMI and repay the entire amount within time.  

Lower Stamp Duty Charges

Stamp duty is a compulsory tax that the state government imposes on the property during its sale or transfer. While every state may have a tax rate that varies from each other, status of the property, type of property, usage of the property, location of the property etc. are all interconnected to the stamp duty charges. Majority of the states in India offer an allowance on stamp duty if the property is registered in the name of a woman, whether it is a sole proprietorship or a joint proprietorship. 

The difference in the rates usually scales from 1% to 2%, and this can make an enormous difference in the property price. 

Tax Benefits

Women also enjoy tax benefits on their home loan repayments. 

The maximum tax deduction is Rs 1.5 lakh on the principal and Rs 2 lakh on the interest repayment under section 80C and under Section 24. 

If a husband and wife are co-owners of the property and have different streams of income, the deductions on the home loan tax for the couple would sum up to Rs. 3 Lakhs on the principal amount and Rs. 4 Lakhs on payment of interest under the same. 

Access Large Amounts With Longer Repayment Tenors 

Arranging funds to buy a house is not a piece of cake. It may take years and sometimes, a decade’s savings to build one. But because of schemes like these, women can build their dream house effortlessly. 

One can access home loan amounts right from Rs. 30 Lakh to Rs. 3.5 Crores to build or buy a home. Further, home loans for women are offered for tenures of up to 30 years and till the age of 70. 

Schemes like PMAY (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana) 

Under the ‘Housing for All’ scheme, those with an annual income of not more than Rs.18 lakh can apply for it. Giving a higher preference to women, the PMAY makes co – ownership mandatory offering a subsidy to women up to Rs. 2.67 Lakh and this has taken a massive rise in the number of women applying for home loans in India. 

Apart from these, women enjoy numerous profitable add-on offers such as a free holiday, gold coins, vouchers and a lot more that are here to encourage women to step up on the road to women empowerment.