Vacant homes Japan

A lot of fuss is made over the large number of vacant homes across Japan (8.2 million residential properties in 2013). Some lament about how wasteful it is for empty homes to sit unused, while others suggest a huge potential market in filling these empty homes, even converting them for use by foreign tourists.

These suggestions and critiques, however, fail to take into account the fact that many of these empty homes have fallen into serious disrepair and may be in locations so remote or unpopular that there is simply no demand for them.

On November 20, the Ministry of Land, announced the results of their investigation into the vacant home numbers. Of the total vacant housing stock, approximately 42% were vacant for ‘other reasons’ (eg. not holiday homes and not vacant homes that have yet to be moved into by their owners).

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