RBI on March 6th eased the norms for home loans for up to Rs 10 lakh by allowing banks to include stamp duty and registration charges to the cost of a unit, which gives a boost to affordable housing. "With a view to encourage availability of affordable housing to such borrowers, it has been decided that in cases where the cost of the house does not exceed Rs 10 lakh, banks may add stamp duty, registration and other documentation charges to the cost of the unit for calculating LTV (loan to value) ratio," RBI said in a notification.

Presently, banks do not include stamp duty, registration and other documentation charges in the cost of housing property. "It has been brought to our notice that these amounts from around 15 per cent of the cost of the house and place a burden on the borrowers from economically weaker sections (EWS) and low income groups (LIG)," RBI said while easing the norms. 

RBI also said that in cases of projects sponsored by government and statutory authorities, banks may disburse the loans as per the payment stages prescribed by such authorities, even where payments sought from house buyers are not linked to the stages of construction.

By Premji