68% of Japan’s empty homes are in old buildings
According to a survey by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), approximately two-thirds (68.9%) of Japan’s vacant homes are in buildings built before 1980. Older properties that have been left to rot, particularly those built to the old earthquake construction codes (called ‘kyu-taishin’), can be at risk of collapse and are a danger to neighbours.
44.5% of the vacant homes were built before 1970, and 24.4% were built between 1971 ~ 1980. In 1981, the major change to Japan’s earthquake-resistant construction codes was introduced.
Hidetaka Yoneyama, a senior researcher at the Fujitsu Research Institute, said that the low market value of kyu-taishin properties means that there are many cases where they are simply abandoned.Read more