Rent vs Buy Calculator — Chennai (2026)

Deciding whether to rent or buy a home in Chennai is as much about transaction costs and cash flow as it is about the sticker price. This calculator uses Tamil Nadu’s actual stamp duty and registration rules to show your real monthly EMI, the total upfront cash you need, how much of that EMI your rent covers, and your net position if you sell in any of the next 30 years. Below is a worked example on a ₹1,20,00,000 home; change any input in the calculator to model your own numbers.

In Chennai, the all-in transaction cost of buying comes to about 12.0% over and above the price — that is ₹14,40,000 on a ₹1,20,00,000 home. It breaks down into stamp duty at 7.0% (₹8,40,000), a registration charge of 4.0% (₹4,80,000), and 1.0% brokerage (₹1,20,000). Tamil Nadu offers no women’s stamp duty concession, so the 7.0% rate applies regardless of who the property is registered to.

Here is the worked example, assuming a 30% down payment at 8.5% over 20 years (all editable below). On ₹1,20,00,000, the down payment is ₹36,00,000 and the loan is ₹84,00,000, giving a monthly EMI of ₹72,897. Add the ₹14,40,000 of transaction costs and you need about ₹50,40,000 in upfront cash to complete the purchase, with the bank financing the rest.

On the rental side, a typical ₹32,000/month rent for a home at this price is a gross rental yield of 3.2% — and it covers 43.9% of the EMI. The gap of about ₹40,897 a month is cash you add on top, whether you rent the place out or live in it and forgo that rent. Under the default 7% property-growth and 5% rent-growth assumptions, selling turns net-positive around year 3, after repaying the outstanding loan and paying 1.0% resale costs.

Use the calculator below to stress-test these assumptions for Chennai: raise the interest rate, lower property growth, or adjust the rent to see how the break-even year and 30-year net gain move. Every figure updates instantly. Remember that stamp duty and registration rates are set by Tamil Nadu and change from time to time — treat the example price of ₹1.20 Cr and the rates as starting points, and verify the current slabs before you transact.