Special Home Loan Benefits for Women.

Geeta is a single woman in a big city. She plans to apply for a home loan for women to buy her dream house. A few decades ago, she would have found it difficult to get a loan. After all, In India, women-owned SMEs have a 250% higher chance of getting rejected for a bank loan as compared to men-owned SMEs.

Taking heed of this, many banks and NBFCs today are taking measures to change this situation for the better. Financial institutions are more willing to lend to women with good credit ratings and stable incomes. They even offer women certain special benefits, which loan-seekers like Geeta can avail.

Interest rates

It's not just a general perception that women pay their dues on time; many studies prove that women are indeed less likely to default on loans than men. So, lenders offer concessions on interest rates on home loan for women. Geeta can expect to pay an interest rate that is 0.05-0.1% lower than normal. That might seem like a small concession. But values of houses run into lakhs or crores of rupees. That means Geeta can expect significant savings on her repayment. Her monthly equated monthly installments (EMIs) will be lighter. But to get a lower interest rate, Geeta will have to be the primary applicant or co-applicant for the loan.

Stamp duty for house registration

Many states in India offer a lower stamp duty for house registrations done in the name of a woman. They do this to incentivize property ownership by women. A lower stamp duty also boosts borrowings by women. Geeta's stamp duties charges may be 1-2% lower than they are for men. Considering the property value is in lakhs/crores, this can be a substantial amount of saving.

Tax deduction

Geeta can also avail tax benefits from home loans. Women can reduce their taxable income by a total of Rs 3.5 lakh through their home loan for women repayments. Of this, Rs 1.5 lakh is the maximum limit on the interest amount paid on their loans. The remaining Rs 1 lakh is the amount she pays towards paying back the principle amount. This applies if she lives in the house herself.

Special schemes

http://www.outlookmoney.com/start-up/level-the-playing-field-485 financial institutions sometimes offer special schemes on home loan for women. For example, they offer gold vouchers to female homeowners. Paltry as they may seem, such schemes can help women like Geeta take a step towards financial independence.

The bottom line

As a woman, Geeta can avail all of these benefits. This, of course, depends on certain criteria like a stable income and impeccable credit history-just like any other borrower. In addition, there are many benefits she-and hoards of other women-can avail like lower stamp duty charges. So, yes, women must buy homes when they are ready- with the help of a home loan.

{Source: http://www.tatacapital.com/blog/home-loan/special-home-loan-benefits-for-women.htm}