Murky details about foreclosed illegal casino in Nishiazabu
On March 6th the Tokyo Police Department issued arrest warrants for Daisuke Shioda, the former president of ABC Home, and four associates for interfering with the public auction of a foreclosed property owned by ABC Home. However, Shioda has so far evaded capture and his whereabouts are unknown.
Shioda is accused of falsifying the ownership details on the real estate register of the property in order to prevent the property from selling at auction. He also lied and said that his mother and sister had 18 ~ 20 year leases on some of the floors in the building.Read more
Compensation awarded to occupants of building with insufficient earthquake resistance
The Yokohama District Court has ordered that an architect office and building inspection company pay compensation of 1.4082 billion Yen (17.6 million USD) to owners of the 37 apartments in St. Regis Tsurumi after it was established that the building has insufficient earthquake resistance.
The building was inspected by Nippon ERI, who noticed that the building's strength did not meet standards and requested that the architect office correct the mistake. The mistake was corrected on paperwork in handwriting and ERI failed to notice the forged revision.Read more
Radiation found in foundations of new home
On January 19, the Mayor of Nihonmatsu City announced that concrete used by the contractor for the recently discovered contaminated apartment building (article here) has also been used in a recently built home, and new recent reports indicate that the gravel from the quarry has been used in at least 50 homes and apartment buildings, and over 1000 different construction projects throughout the prefecture. A further 7 tons of gravel were shipped to Tokyo.Read more
High radiation levels from concrete in new apartment building
On January 15, the Cabinet Office's Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters and the Nihonmatsu City Council in Fukushima Prefecture announced that radiation levels of 1.24 microsieverts/hour were detected in a brand new 3-storey apartment building in the city. The levels exceed the radiation levels found outdoors and residents from the 1st floor of the building have been advised to move elsewhere.Read more
Buying a house that cannot be rebuilt
Due to land and construction laws in Japan, there are some houses that legally cannot be rebuilt. This is an important point to watch out for when you are looking to buy a home and land.
These types of properties are called "sai-kenchiku fuka" which means reconstruction is not allowed. In many cases this is because the particular block of land does not have sufficient street frontage.Read more
New plan requiring land risks to be explained before sale
The Japan Association of Home Suppliers has announced plans to require a site geography and history report to be presented to the buyer prior to the sale of a home.
There are approximately 100 home builders who are members of the Association. The committee chairman, also company president of Mita Housing, said that following the Tohoku disaster they had received an increasing number of inquiries from clients concerned about the liquefaction risk and strength of the ground. He believes that providing a geography and history report for each property would provide help to ease the concerns of buyers. Mita Housing is about to introduce this new reporting system into their own business, and many other real estate companies also have plans to do so.Read more
100 condominiums in Sendai City need rebuilding
In Sendai City, a condominium that was seriously damaged by the March 11 Tohoku Earthquake is scheduled to be demolished. Sunny Heights Takasago is a 14-storey apartment building with 189 units. The earthquake damaged the foundations and the building began to lean at a dangerous angle, threatening neighboring buildings. Demolition is scheduled to begin by the end of December and should be completed within 6 months. This is the first case in Sendai City of an apartment building of this size being demolished due to the effects of the Tohoku earthquake, but it won't be the last.Read more