Kagawa Prefecture announced that they are offering free temporary housing for evacuees from the disaster affected areas of Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate Prefectures. The offer applies to properties that are listed for less than 60,000 Yen/month, or 90,000 Yen/month for 5-person homes. The maximum lease term is 2 years. The Prefecture will also bear the costs of any necessary moving-out repairs as well as agency fees, with the final costs to be borne by the three affected Prefectures.

The system is based on the Disaster Relief Law and Kagawa is the first Prefecture to introduce these measures. To be eligible, the evacuee’s house must be assessed as ‘completely destroyed’ or uninhabitable, and they are unable to move into public housing due to school or hospital commuting. Residents from the Fukushima Nuclear Plant evacuation zone are also eligible.

The Prefectural Housing Department currently has 115 prefectural properties, 64 city properties and 45 privately-owned properties available. The offer began on December 5 and applications must be made before the end of February, 2012.

Source: The Shikoku Shimbun, December 3, 2011.

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