India, April 9 -- Neha Sharma, 32, a marketing professional in Bengaluru, has been renting an apartment where the rent now accounts for nearly 30% of her income. With the new wage structure reducing her House Rent Allowance (HRA) benefits and tax savings, she is reassessing her finances. She is now considering buying a house, evaluating whether EMIs would be comparable, while also weighing long-term stability, tax benefits, and the opportunity to build equity.

The new Labour Code is expected to reshape the way salaried professionals structure their income and, more importantly, how they make one of life's biggest financial decisions: whether to rent or buy a home.

At the heart of this shift lies a seemingly technical change: the redefin...