Kyoto City is looking into introducing a tax on holiday home owners. In recent years, the number of out-of-town buyers of homes and apartments in the historic city has grown. The homes sit empty for most of the year while the owners do not provide much in the way of tax revenue, leaving locals to carry the costs of maintaining the city's infrastructure, and various local activities and programs.
Furthermore, increasing tourist numbers have led to intense competition for hotel development sites, pushing up real estate prices in the inner city areas to levels that are now unaffordable for the younger population.
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