On June 25, 2019, the Building Standards Act was revised. One of the interesting revisions was regarding the requirements that must be met when changing the use of an existing property. 

Up until now, if you wanted to convert a residence over 100 sqm into a shop or accommodation, the building needed to have a construction completion certificate. This certificate is only issued just upon completion and in many cases cannot be retroactively obtained. It certifies that the building was built to the specifications submitted in the original construction approval plans. It is more commonplace to obtain this certificate for new construction nowadays, but for older properties, there are many cases where homeowners did not bother. For even older, historic properties, the certification system did not exist when the homes were built.

This requirement made it close to impossible for larger, older buildings to be converted into commercial or hotel use. Last month’s revision has upped the minimum floor size to 200 sqm before a certificate is needed. This may see more once-vacant homes converted into small ryokans or guest houses catering to the growing tourism industry.

Of the existing 28,000,000 detached homes across Japan, 30% are under 100 sqm, while 60% are between 100 ~ 200 sqm. Only 10% are over 200 sqm in size.

Source: The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, June 14, 2019.

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