Home Loan Benefits for Women and Senior Citizen

To buy the house which you have dreamed of is on top of your wish list irrespective of the fact which gender or your age you belong to. Women and senior citizens are generally considered as a weak section of our society. The idea behind providing all such discounts and benefits is to empower them with more assets in their name this in return helps to improve their economic status in India and making them less vulnerable to exploitation.
 
Home loans for women
Today women are at par with men which was not the same down the years. Now women are aware of their rights and now there has been the vibe of positive changes in all aspects of our society. When it comes to being independent and buying their own house they are no way backward to men’s of our society and to support them banks and financial institution provide them with the required finances for discounted interest rates when compared to providing the same loan amount to others. State governments have also made a step ahead by providing concessions in stamp duty on the purchase of a house by a woman. When a woman borrows a loan then the rate of interest levied on a home loan is lower as compared to interest charged on men. The interest on such housing loans is relatively lower, by at least 0.05% than those acquired under normal categories. The difference in rates does not look huge for sure but they make a huge difference if the loan amount is high. Financial institutions usually offer such differential rates on home loans only when a woman is a sole applicant.
 
Home loans for senior citizen or reverse mortgage
A reverse mortgage is a type of scheme where the senior citizen who does not have the income gets steady income after retirement. It is called reverse mortgage because instead of making monthly payments to a lender, as per the traditional mortgage rules here the lender makes the payments to the borrower. It has conceived as a means to help retirees with limited income use the accumulated wealth in their homes to cover their basic monthly living expenses and pay for health and physical care. The borrowers do not have to pay back the loan until the home is sold or otherwise vacated. If the borrower dies or if the borrower leaves the house property permanently, then the loan is repaid along with accumulated interest, by a sale of the house property. The amount that is actually received by the senior citizen from such a reverse mortgage transaction would be considered tax free in their hands as this is not income and the amount they get is in the form of the loan. Though such schemes have not got popular with the senior citizens of India primarily the reason being Indian parents do not want to mortgage their residential property or leave debt behind for their children. Additionally, reverse mortgages are not aggressively marketed by banks as it is done for home loans. However, the government should take further steps like providing annuity from an insurance company so that the income does become taxable. The government can remove the anomaly and make the pension available through annuity purchased making it tax free so that such schemes become more beneficial & attractive for the senior citizens.
 
Hence it’s necessary to empower these weaker sections of the society by giving them attractive discounts and benefits so that they purchase their own houses and feel confident about themselves and stand tall and equal to the other sections of the society. This also helps to improve the economic status of such section and further reviving the progress of our nation. Though these topics may look small but it needs great attention so it’s necessary to take due measures and care to make such sections of society sustainable.