For most Indians, the decision of buying a home comes after a lot of planning and difficulty. Most people who buy a house also apply for home loan for purchasing a home. Considering the low interest rates, 2022 can be termed as a suitable year to apply for a home loan. Before the finalisation of the decision to get the home loan, however, it is important to know the caveats attached to it. In recent years, obtaining home loan has become easier. However, home lenders still perform basic checks. One of the important criteria for lenders is to know about the other EMIs (equated monthly income) being paid by the applicant. Here, the take-home pay and the other EMIs already being paid play a significant role. Generally, your accumulative EMIs should not be more than a particular percentage of your take-home salary. 

Applicants can also avail of the option of applying for a joint home loan and can benefit from the facility of a joint home loan offered by the lender. Considering the income sources of the applicants, lenders can easily offer you the home loan. The joint home loan option comes with certain benefits. Before applying for a housing loan, however, it is recommended that you check the eligibility criteria for home loan. Commonly, lending institutions consider age, income, credit score, credit history, and so on to determine whether you can be offered a home loan or not. The procedure of joint loan application can be made convenient by knowing the details of the eligibility criteria of home loan.

What Is a Joint Home Loan?

While applying for a home loan, lending institution give you the option of adding co-applicants. In this case, the loan is considered a joint home loan. Also, the application is considered after assessing the income and capability of repayment of all the applicants. Married couples can benefit from this option and opt for submitting application for a joint home loan. 

Benefits of a Joint Home Loan for Married Couples

For married couples, the joint home loan facility comes with a variety of benefits. First, this increases your chances of getting a higher loan amount. If you plan to purchase a bigger and better house and cannot do so because of the low loan amount being offered by the lender, the joint home loan can come to the rescue. By opting for a joint home loan, the final loan amount can be increased by approximately 20 to 25 lakhs. 

Also, lenders offer home loans on a discounted rate for women. As a married couple, this benefit can also be availed. However, in this case, the wife needs to be either the sole or joint owner of the house. While applying for the loan, a woman, however, can be the main applicant or the co-applicant. 

Another advantage of a joint loan is related to the home loan tax benefit offered by the government. By availing a joint home loan, both the main applicant and co-applicant become eligible for getting the tax benefit. This tax benefit can be claimed under deductions offered through Section 80C. Under this head, however, only principal repayments up to a limit of 1.5 lakh is allowed. The interest amount paid is also eligible for tax benefit, under Section 24 of the Income Tax Act. In the case of joint home loans, couples can enjoy the joint home loan tax benefits separately. Further, while availing the loan, some planning can be done on the share of loan each applicant is going to repay to enjoy the tax benefit.

The Downside of a Joint Home Loan

If married couples decide to take a joint home loan, the repayment responsibility of the loan resides on both husband and wife. In case of the non-payment of EMI by either of them, both applicants bear the consequences of this. Generally, the credit score of both wife and husband goes down, which can become a hindrance in getting the loan sanctioned by lending institutions in future. Also, if couples decide to end their marriage, loan repayment can become a tricky matter. 

Additionally, in unfortunate cases, like the death of the partner, the surviving partner becomes responsible for making the repayment of the entire home loan amount. Considering the one income source gone, this can be difficult to manage.

For married couples, if managed well, joint home loan can be a good option, particularly if a higher loan amount is needed. To make the joint home loan application, necessary documents, like income proof, identity proof and address proof, can be submitted to the lending institute. After due verification of the documents, the lender determines the eligibility for the home loan. While making the application, however, all co-applicants should insist on becoming the co-owner of the property. This is not mandatory for submitting the application and becoming eligible for the joint home loan. However, by doing this, ownership-related disputes can be avoided.