Mgmt association seeks to ban owner from using apartment as sharehouse

The management association of an apartment building in Azabu Juban have filed a request with the Tokyo District Court to ban a real estate company from operating an 8-room share house out of one of the apartments.

The association believes that the share house configuration violates the condominium ownership law and building standards act.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Japan's emerging share house market

In an aging society that is seeing falling occupancy rates in the property market, unused real estate is becoming an increasingly serious problem. However, this has led to a creation of a new market for share house developers. According to an investigation by a major real estate company, the number of sharehouses has risen 26-fold in the past 8 years, with Tokyo being the most popular location.

In a typical share house, tenants have their own private rooms while the kitchen, living and bathroom areas are shared. Unlike a typical Japanese guest house which is designed for travelers staying for a short period, share houses cater to long-term tenants.

While it may be common in many countries for the younger generation to rent an apartment or house with several friends, share houses in Japan are only a recent phenomenon.Read more

by Zoe Ward

47-yr old ryokan converted to sharehouse in Tokyo

Real estate company R Bank have converted an old Japanese inn (ryokan) into a character-filled female-only sharehouse in Tokyo's Katsushika ward. Called 'Tokyo Kita Wave', the property was renovated from a 47 year old post-war inn, and is their 30th sharehouse.Read more

by Zoe Ward