ICICI Bank Home Loan Eligibility

ICICI Bank Home Loan Eligibility Criteria

ICICI Home Loans can be availed by prospective homeowners for financing their home purchase or home construction. Loan applicants can also use the home loan proceeds for the purpose of renovation or extension of their residential property. Existing home loan borrowers from other banks or housing finance companies (HFCs) can also opt for home loan balance transfer to transfer their loan to ICICI Bank at lower interest rates.

The ICICI Bank Home Loan eligibility criteria set for different ICICI Bank Home Loan schemes are as follows:

For Express Home Loan

• Resident Indians and NRIs
• Salaried and self-employed individuals

For Plot Loan

• Both salaried and self-employed individuals are eligible for availing ICICI Bank Plot Loan
• Age: 25 – 65 years

For Instant Home Loans (pre-approved)

Eligible home loan applicants should have a salary account with ICICI Bank along with pre-approved offer for availing home loans from the lender.

For Money Saver Home Loan

• Resident Indians are eligible
• Salaried and self-employed

For NRIs

• Age: 21-65 years
• Salaried applicants with at least 1 year of employment overseas
• Self-employed applicants with at least 3 years of experience in current business overseas
• Minimum Income:
  • Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries – USD 26,000 (Merchant Navy) and AED 84,000 (other than Merchant Navy)
  • Other countries – USD 26,000 (Merchant Navy) and AED 42,000 (other than Merchant Navy)

PMAY

• Both salaried and self-employed loan individuals are eligible for avail PMAY subsidy.
• The loan applicant should either belong to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS), Low Income Group (LIG) or Middle Income Group (MIG – I & MIG –II) to avail interest subsidy on purchase, construction, renovation or extension of their house.

• The beneficiary or his/her family should not own a pucca house anywhere in India.
• The beneficiary’s family will include his/her spouse and unmarried children.
• The beneficiary, his/her spouse or both together can apply for a single subsidy.
• The beneficiary or his/her family should not have applied for any other government scheme or benefits as under PMAY.
• The property on which the subsidy is to be availed has to have basic amenities such as water, sanitation, sewerage, road, electricity etc.
• The income norms for different categories under the PMAY scheme are as follows:
  • EWS households/individuals – Annual income up to Rs 3 lakh
  • LIG households/individuals – Annual income above Rs 3 lakh and up to Rs 6 lakh
  • MIG I households/individuals – Annual income above Rs 6 lakh and up to Rs 12 lakh
  • MIG I households/individuals – Annual income above Rs 12 lakh and up to Rs 18 lakh

Tips to Improve Eligibility for ICICI Bank Home Loans

Improve your Credit Scores

Although ICICI Bank has not specified the cut-off credit score for their home loan applicants, many lenders consider credit scores as one of the most important filters while setting the home loan eligibility criteria for prospective homeowners. Lenders usually consider credit scores of 750 and above as creditworthy.  Thus, home loan applicants having higher credit scores are more likely to get home loan approval on their loan applications. Furthermore, it can also help them get lower home loan interest rates as many banks and HFCs set their interest rates based on their home loan applicants’ credit scores.

Prospective homeowners can maintain or improve their credit scores by following healthy credit practices like repaying their EMIs/credit card dues on time, monitoring loans guaranteed/co-signed by them, avoiding multiple loan or credit card applications within short durations, etc.

Additionally, home loan applicants should also review their credit reports frequently to identify any errors present in these reports and send it to their lenders or credit bureaus for correction. Rectified credit reports enhance the credit score of loan applicants and help improve their home loan eligibility.

Home loan applicants with zero or low credit scores can also avail the Paisabazaar Step UP Credit Card, a lifetime free secured credit card issued by Paisabazaar.com against the fixed deposits of SBM Bank, to maintain or improve their credit scores.

Opt for a Longer Home Loan Tenure

ICICI Bank Home Loans have repayment tenures extending up to 30 years. Banks and HFCs generally approve home loan applications of those individuals whose total EMI obligations, including their proposed home loan EMI, does not exceed 50% – 60% of their total monthly income. Home loan applicants can select longer tenures to reduce their EMI burden, which in turn helps to improve their repayment capacity and increase their chances for home loan approval. Prospective home loan borrowers should also check the EMI calculator for Home Loans to find the optimum home loan tenures and EMIs based on their repayment capacity.

Adding a Co-Applicant

ICICI Bank Home Loan applicants with insufficient monthly/annual income or low credit scores can improve their chances of home loan approval by adding a co-borrower. Doing so makes the co-applicant responsible for timely loan repayments, which in turn reduces the credit risk for the lender offering home loans. Many lenders allow home loan applicants to add close family members as co-applicants.

Adequate Funds for Down Payment  

ICICI Bank has not disclosed the LTV ratio for home loans. However, RBI has restricted banks and HFCs providing home loans to finance up to 90% for home loans of up to Rs. 30 Lakhs, up to 80% for home loans of above Rs. 30 Lakhs and up to Rs. 75 Lakhs & up to 75% for home loans above Rs. 75 Lakhs. The home loan applicant has to arrange the remaining component through down payment or margin contribution. As higher down payment lowers the credit risk for home loan lenders, applicants can improve their chances of home loan approval by making higher down payments.