Home loan eligibility is a set of pre-defined criteria laid down by financial institutions to assess an applicant’s creditworthiness to avail a loan and repay the same.

As per a recent survey, it has been found that a large section of India’s population is not aware of their credit score and its significance. And, because of that, every year, financial institutions reject multiple home loan applications, and individuals fail to meet their monetary needs during emergencies.

To avoid such a scenario, most financial institutions have mentioned all the home loan eligibility criteria on their online portal so that potential borrowers can easily access them. Here are the basic parameters:

• The housing loan is available to salaried individuals aged between 23 and 62 years and self-employed individuals aged between 25 and 70 years.

• Applicants should have employment stability, a regular source of income, minimum 3 years of work experience (salaried), and business vintage of 5 years or above in case of self-employed individuals.

• A decent credit score and repayment track report will be required.

Individuals meeting all these home loan eligibility criteria will be able to avail substantial funds at low-interest rates and finance their house/land purchase or construction. One can also check their eligibility by using a housing loan eligibility calculator. In case applicants are not able to get attractive deals, here are some ways they can improve their eligibility:

• Adding a co-applicant with a clean repayment history and good credit score while availing the home loan.

• Repaying previous loans and making timely payments.

• Fixing errors in credit history and trying to keep a CIBIL score of 750 or above to increase their home loan eligibility.

• Submitting details of additional income sources to the lender

Apart from these, one should also opt for a structured repayment plan while availing the home loan. Choose the combination or loan tenor and interest rate wisely as EMIs will be influenced by that. One can also use a housing loan EMI calculator to evaluate their monthly instalments beforehand so that they can manage finances accordingly.