How to apply for a home loan: documents and steps

To apply for a home loan, you choose a lender and submit its application with your identity, income and property documents. The lender checks your repayment record and the property, then sends a written sanction. After you sign the loan agreement, it releases the money, in stages if the home is still being built. RBI's rules set what the lender must tell you at several of these steps.

A home loan is money a lender gives you to buy a house, which you repay with interest in monthly instalments. The sections below follow the path from the first calculation to the first instalment.

What are the steps to get a home loan?

There are eight steps, from working out the loan to paying the first EMI, the equated monthly instalment: the fixed amount paid each month that covers interest and part of the loan. The table gives the order, and the sections after it explain each step.

How much can you borrow, and how much must you put in?

RBI caps how much of a home's value a bank or housing finance company can lend. It allows up to 90% on loans of ₹30 lakh or less, 80% on loans above ₹30 lakh up to ₹75 lakh, and 75% above ₹75 lakh. This share is called loan-to-value, the part of the home's value the lender will finance.

Stamp duty and registration charges do not count as part of the price for this cap, unless the home costs ₹10 lakh or less. You pay them on top of your down payment, which is the part of the price you pay from your own money.

Take Meera, who is buying a ₹62,00,000 flat that is still under construction. A loan of that size falls in the ₹30 lakh to ₹75 lakh band, so at most 80% can be borrowed. That is ₹49,60,000. She must find at least ₹12,40,000 herself, plus stamp duty and registration.

The price is above ₹50 lakh, so she also deducts 1% as tax at source (TDS) when she pays, which is ₹62,000. This assumes the flat's stamp duty value is not higher than the price, because the rule takes whichever is higher.

How much the lender will actually offer depends on your income and credit record. How lenders decide eligibility covers that. For the monthly amount you can carry, see how a home loan EMI is worked out or try the home loan calculator.

If you plan to use your Provident Fund for the down payment, the withdrawal rules say when that is allowed.

What documents do you need for a home loan?

The documents depend on the lender, so ask yours for its current list before you apply. They fall into identity papers, and papers about your income and the property.

For identity, the RBI direction for banks says the bank needs your Permanent Account Number (PAN), or Form 60 if you have none. It also needs proof of identity and address, such as Aadhaar, a passport or a voter ID. This is the KYC check, short for know your customer. That is the bank rule, so ask a housing finance company or other lender what it needs.

SBI's list (October 2026), for example, adds the following. It is one bank's list, not a rule for every lender.

For every borrower:

• The application form with photographs.
• Proof of identity and address, though SBI says no fresh KYC document is needed if your SBI savings account is already KYC-compliant.
• The last six months' bank account statements.
• A statement for the last year of any earlier loan.

If you are salaried:

• Salary slips or a salary certificate for the last three months.
• Form 16 for the last two years, or income tax returns for the last two financial years.

If you are self-employed:

• Proof of your business address.
• Income tax returns, and the balance sheet and profit and loss account, for the last three years.
• Your business licence and your professional qualification certificate.

For the property, SBI asks for papers such as the permission for construction where applicable and the approved plan. It also asks for the allotment letter or the stamped agreement for sale, and payment receipts to the builder or seller. A co-applicant, the second person who applies with you, gives their own documents.

What does the lender check after you apply?

The lender checks two things: whether you can repay, and whether the property is sound security for the loan. Your income, your existing loans and your credit report go into the first. For the second it looks at the property's papers and its value. How to check your credit score and report explains the report.

RBI's rules for banks say each bank must give an acknowledgment for every loan application. The bank must also fix timelines for credit decisions, publish them on its website, and ask you for any missing documents immediately. Housing finance companies and other non-bank lenders must acknowledge applications too, and RBI says they should preferably state a time frame.

If a bank turns your application down, it must tell you the main reasons in writing, whatever the loan amount. This rule is for banks.

What is a sanction letter, and what comes with it?

A sanction letter is the lender's written approval, stating the loan amount, the yearly interest rate and the terms. It is not the money itself.

Before you sign, the lender must give you a Key Facts Statement in a standard format and a language you understand. The statement lists the amount, the rate, each fee and the repayment schedule. It also gives the APR, the yearly cost of the loan with those fees included. You get at least three working days to accept it on those terms. A fee that is not in the statement cannot be charged later unless you explicitly agree.

The statement also shows how the loan will be paid out, either in stages or fully upfront. At sanction, the lender must also explain how a change in the benchmark rate, the published reference rate a floating loan rate is linked to, can change your EMI, the length of the loan or both. Home loan mistakes to avoid has a checklist for reading the terms.

You should also get a copy of the loan agreement with all its attachments. Any later change to the rate or charges applies only going forward, and only after you are told.

One more line to find in the papers is the prepayment term. A floating rate is an interest rate that can change during the loan. On a floating-rate home loan taken by an individual for non-business purposes, there is no prepayment charge, however old the loan. A fixed rate is fixed for the whole term of the loan, and on that kind only the charges stated in the loan papers apply.

How is a home loan disbursed, and when do EMIs start?

Disbursement means the lender releases the loan money. The Key Facts Statement shows whether that happens in stages or fully upfront.

For a flat that is still being built, RBI's rule is that the lender pays the builder in instalments as construction reaches each stage, not all at once. Each instalment is called a tranche. You pay interest only on what has been paid out so far.

Return to Meera. Say the first tranche of her ₹49,60,000 loan is ₹15,00,000. Assume a rate of 8.6% a year, which is not any lender's rate. One month's interest on that tranche is ₹10,750. Once the whole loan is paid out, the full EMI over 25 years at the same assumed rate would be ₹40,274 a month.

SBI, for example, described a pre-EMI option for these loans in October 2026. The borrower pays only the interest on the amount disbursed so far, and the actual EMI starts after possession of the house. How EMIs work explains pre-EMI and the repayment schedule.

Stamp duty and registration are paid at this stage as well. Stamp duty, registration and other charges lists them.

What if you want to switch lenders later?

Moving your loan to another lender means a fresh application, much like this one. When you ask for a takeover, the existing lender must give its consent or raise an objection within 21 days. Paying off your home loan faster covers the other options for reducing the loan.

If you are still deciding whether to buy at all, the signs that you are ready to buy a house are a good place to start.