Suginami-ku may soon have powers to forcibly widen roads
The local government in Suginami-ku, Tokyo, is considering amending local regulations which would give them the powers to carry out the road widening and street levelling on privately owned setback land. If the plans are approved, this would be the first local government in Japan to have these legal powers.
Approximately 30% of the roads in Suginami are less than 4 meters wide and pose a hazard to the local community in the event of a disaster, such as an earthquake, as emergency vehicles cannot navigate the narrow roads and lane ways.
Under the Building Standards Act, owners of buildings that front onto a road less than 4m wide are required to shorten their block land in order to widen the road when the building is redeveloped.
Suginami’s local government currently provide financial assistance to help owners with the cost of removing any obstacles such as walls and gates in order to complete the required setback. Although landowners are required to make the setback portion of land level with the road, many owners leave the raised curbing as is with garden beds and other objects still blocking vehicle access.
No progress made in faulty building in Yokohama
It has been a month since news came out about a 11-year old apartment building in Yokohama that was starting to tilt due to a construction mistake.
The building’s owners association have been fighting with developer, Sumitomo Realty & Development, for several years over the issue. Last month it was announced that Sumitomo had asked the residents to move out and are in the process of arranging temporary accommodation.
Built in 2003, Park Square Mitsuzawa Koen is a five-building complex containing 262 apartments. Three years after completion, residents noticed that the guardrails in the hallway connecting one building to the other were out of alignment and cracks had formed where the rails were joined together. Sumitomo insisted that this was just a result of absorbing shocks caused by earthquakes. The owners association only found out that one of the buildings was leaning after carrying out an investigation during large-scale maintenance and repair work in 2013. Sumitomo again insisted that the building was safe and that there was no problem. They also said that any repair costs should be borne by the apartment owners. Read more
Development of row houses in Tokyo creating issues for residents and neighbours
Setagaya-ku has been seeing a rise in the number of multi-storey row houses being built on flagpole or battle-axe shaped blocks of land. Although an apartment building cannot be built on such blocks of land, developers can get around this rule by building terrace or row houses which do not fall under the definition of a ‘multi-unit dwelling’. Surrounding residents are concerned by the loophole as the densely packed homes could help spread a fire due to the difficult access for firetrucks.
Flagpole blocks of land usually have a long and narrow driveway via the road which leads to the building at the rear. Subdividing of larger blocks of land over the years has led to a number of these properties, many of which only have a 2-metre wide street frontage (the minimum allowed).
Residents asked to move out of Yokohama apartment building after construction fault discovered
Sumitomo Realty & Development are asking residents of an 11-year old condominium apartment building in Yokohama City to move out after it was recently discovered that the building is starting to lean as the foundation piles might not have been sunk deep enough to reach bedrock. Sumitomo said they cannot guarantee the safety of the building and are considering either reinforcing or demolishing and rebuilding the apartment block.Read more
Exposed asbestos still a concern across Japan
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) there are 15,972 large-scale privately-owned buildings across Japan with asbestos sprayed insulation on the ceilings and walls. Of those, only 30%, or 4,767 buildings have had the asbestos either removed or treated.
While the number of buildings with exposed asbestos has dropped by about 14% since 2005, the MLIT is urging the owners of such buildings to take action.Read more