Constructing a house yourself is  better than buying a ready-made one, because we can build our home to suit our own taste, budget and of course in good quality. If you go for a ready-made one, it is constructed according to the owner’s taste, budget, their location preference and family needs.

People generally look for a ready-made home because of the apprehensions and difficulties they may face during construction, but if you have a good contractor service, it is always better to build your dream nest yourself.

Yes, you will get a home loan for constructing a house, just as you would for buying an apartment or a villa. You can apply for a home loan from any leading bank in two ways –  either before purchasing the property to construct the house OR after you purchase a plot in your name – depending upon what stage you are in.

You can either get a complete home loan, which includes a plot purchase loan and a construction loan or an independent construction loan, both of which are considered to be home loans and eligible for tax benefits.

Yes, your home loans are eligible for tax benefits. The principal and the interest components of the loan are eligible for income tax deductions under section 80C and 24 respectively of the Indian Income Tax Act.

The situation of tax benefit gets complicated only when you purchase a plot and do not construct a house in the next 3 years. In other words, if you take a home loan and do not construct the house in 3 years’ time, you will lose the status of a home loan.

But otherwise in all other cases constructing a house on a plot that you want will fetch you tax benefits.

Primarily the legal approval that is required for constructing a house is the approval that is taken from the local self government body, which is a Panchayath, Municipality or a Corporation as the case might be. It is decided based on the local body under which the property falls.

The process is something like this – once you decide to construct a house, you get a floor plan designed using the services of an Architect. After the floor plan is finalized, you create technical drawings as per the standards set by the local body. You then apply for a building permit.

There is a statutory process by which the building permit is issued and once the building permit is issued you are statutorily allowed to start the construction of the house.
So it is a single step process which would involve verification of the plan as well as verification of property by authorities concerned.