PMAY: Everything You Need to Know Before Applying

Back in 2015, the Government of India launched the “Housing for All” mission with the aim to help 20 million Indians own a home. Under this mission, PMAY was launched, called Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, where borrowers can get an interest subsidy on their home loan based on their household income category and other norms. In this article, you will find the requisite details related to the scheme and the eligibility criteria which users must meet to qualify for the scheme.

What is PMAY?

The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana or PMAY is a central and state government-backed, subsidy-based housing scheme that is meant to provide housing to all eligible beneficiaries by the year 2022. It makes purchasing a house affordable for first-time buyers. Launched in 2015,  it lays down simple PMAY Eligibility requirements which users need to fulfil to avail of benefits under the scheme and secure their places as beneficiaries under the PMAY List. Beneficiaries can apply for subsidy benefits and purchase or construct the home of their choice. But they must know that the interest subsidy available to beneficiaries depends on their economic and is limited by a maximum cap.

Who is eligible for it?

The beneficiary list comprises families including husbands, wives, and unmarried children. For beneficiary selection, every adult member of a family who happens to earn will be considered a separate household entity irrespective of their marital status.

• Any of your family members, including you, should not own a pucca house anywhere in India.
• For PMAY Eligibility, the property should be in the name of an adult female member of the family. It can be solely owned by the female member of the family or in joint ownership with the spouse. The same condition is not mandatory if the PMAY benefit is availed for the construction of a house on an existing plot.
• In case there is no female member in the given family, the property can be in the name of the male head of the family.
• The location of the property you have chosen should fall under all statutory towns as per the 2011 census and their adjacent planning area.
• The family income(total) must not exceed Rs. 3 lakh to be eligible for PMAY Scheme under the EWS category.
• The beneficiary needs to apply for the scheme between June 17, 2015, and March 31, 2022.
• The house of the beneficiary family should have a carpet area of up to 30 sq. m. for EWS beneficiaries to fulfil the PMAY Eligibility.
• Only those beneficiary families are eligible to apply for this scheme who have availed housing loans for the purchase or construction of houses or repair/extension of Kucha or semi-pucca houses.

Who are the beneficiaries of this scheme?

Beneficiaries are identified under the following 4 categories for subsidy distribution:

EWS or Economically weaker section: Families with an annual income of up to Rs. 3 lakh

Lower Income Group (LIG): Families with an annual income between Rs. 3 lakh and Rs. 6 lakh

Middle Income Group I or MIG-I: Families with annual income between Rs. 6 lakh and Rs. 12 lakh. The beneficiaries under this category can claim an interest subsidy capped at Rs. 9 lakh (with a maximum interest rate subsidy of up to 4%) with a home loan tenure not exceeding 20 years.

Middle Income Group-II or MIG-II: Families with annual income between Rs. 12 lakh and Rs. 18 lakh with home loan tenure not exceeding 20 years. The interest rate on the advance for this category can be subsidized by not more than 3%, with a maximum subsidy value capped at Rs. 12 lakh.

Other minority categories such as SC, ST, Other Backward Castes, and Women are also identified, based on their economic strata, under this scheme for subsidiary distribution.

How do I check whether I am eligible for the PMAY scheme?

Through the following steps, you can gauge whether you fulfil the requirements:

Step 1: Do check with your family if anyone in the family owns a pucca house. Or has availed of any government-led housing benefit in the past.

Step 2: You need to calculate your household’s annual income to confirm if it is under Rs. 18 lakh. While doing so, add up your spouse’s income for this calculation to determine the eligibility criteria for PMAY.

Step 3: The user must purchase or invest in new house construction to be able to avail of benefits under this scheme.

Step 4: You might want to check if the construction of the property purchased through a home loan was completed within 3 years of loan disbursal or to avail of subsidy benefits.

Step 5: Check once if the property is located in the identified area. Once confirmed, decide on your eligibility for PMAY and proceed to apply accordingly.

Once you make the application, applicants can check their name in the PMAY list as per their qualification under the urban or rural scheme and applicable category.

How to apply for the PMAY scheme?

The process to How to Apply for PMAY is quite simple. You can visit its dedicated website for this scheme to complete the application process and proceed to fill up the available form with the correct choices. Make sure you have your Aadhaar card by your side when you are doing that.

How to check your name on the list?

Users can navigate through the website and click on the “Search Beneficiary” option and click on it to continue. Further, enter your Aadhaar number or any other personal or regional information required. Next, click on the “Show” option for the PMAY list to display on your screen.

 However, PMAY eligibility subsidy benefits are determined based on the first 4 categories only. The most home loan tenure would be 20 years. However, lenders can sanction loans to beneficiaries for a maximum tenor of 30 years, but the loan has to be repaid before the borrower attains the age of 70 years.