Housing is a primary need of a human. However, not every person is economically so well off that they can afford to buy a house for themselves or even have space in their monthly budget to accommodate the EMIs of home loans. Thus, it becomes difficult for them to sustain their dream of having their own house. In such a case, schemes like Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana can be of great help.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the government provides subsidy on the interest of a home loan. Through PMAY, the government intends to achieve the target of providing two crores affordable housing units by 2022. The scheme is divided into two parts, PMAY-U for urban and PMAY-G for rural areas. It was started in the year 2015 to help economically weaker sections and middle-income sections of the society in having their own house in the range of affordable housing.
There are certain criteria established by the government to ensure that only the right people get the benefit under the scheme, and it is not misused by the higher income group. The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana eligibility criteria are:
- It is available to people who are in the Low Income Group (LIG) category which includes families with an annual income of Rs 3 lakhs to 6 lakhs.
- The Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) of the society includes families with an annual household income of up to Rs. Three lakhs.
- The Middle Income Group is divided into two parts MIG-I and MIG-II. The MIG collectively includes families with annual household income from Rs. 6 lakhs to Rs. 18 lakhs.
- The subsidy is also provided where the woman is the primary applicant.
- Additionally, in order to avail the benefit under the PMAY scheme, the families must not own any other house, and they should not have availed any housing scheme benefit from any other government.
With PMAY, you can get a subsidy on your home loan interest. You can enrol for the scheme and then apply for the home loan with any bank that is within the shortlisted list of lenders under PMAY.
The process of applying for the PMAY is:
- First of all, check your eligibility for the scheme. For which you must be able to prove that your annual household income is not more than Rs. 18 lakhs. If you can prove that, then the next step is to identify the category in which you reside. The subsidy under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana will be decided based on your category.
- After you identify the category, you can apply for the home loan through any bank or NBFC, which is authorized under the scheme to carry out its proceedings.
- Apart from applying for a home loan, you must also apply for the PMAY scheme by filling the form online. Make sure to fill all the required details correctly.
- The subsidy will be enclosed with other loan documents when you apply for the loan. Make sure all the documents are correct and signed wherever required.
The bank accepts the subsidy benefit from the government on your behalf and then transfers the benefit into your account. It can also be the case that initially you would have to pay the whole EMI, and when your application for PMAY gets accepted, the EMI would eventually reduce.
