Yomiuri Looks At Local Support For Foreign Residents

[Mulboyne]

In 2006, Saitama established a system to help foreigners looking for accommodation in the prefecture. Pamphlets are available in several languages explaining how to rent an apartment and volunteers are on hand to help with interpreting requirements and advice on guarantors. A network of 98 "foreigner-friendly" estate agents was also established which handled 191 cases and completed contracts on 91 in the first six months. Through word-of-mouth in the foreign community and promotion on the prefecture's website (PDF), the number of registered agents has increased to 113 who all display the sticker shown above. The most recent six month period saw these agents deal with 267 cases and complete contracts on 167 deals. Chinese tenants are the largest group using the services, comprising just over 30% of the total. The Yomiuri includes this information in an article (Japanese) which is part of a series looking at what kind of support needs to be available if the Government is serious about promoting a more open immigration policy. This longer article (Japanese) puts the immigration proposals into a wider context. Most of the points about the inadequacies of the "trainee worker" scheme and problems with medical care and education have already been mentioned here and in related threads but it is notable that the debate is once again being widely aired in the local press.

[bolt_krank]

So there's 98 agent who over 6 months handled 191.
So the average agent who promote that they support finding accomodation for foreigners, handled on average 2 cases in 6 months.
Of that - 91 were sucessful = less than half.

So if you go to a foreigner-friendly place, there's a little of 50% chance you'll be rejected. Hate to see what the normal places are like.

That being said - the most recent 6 months, 267 cases from 113 agents, so a little more than 2 each... but 167 deals - that's a good 60%. Gotta love that dedication...

[Mulboyne]

...So if you go to a foreigner-friendly place, there's a 50% chance you'll be rejected...

You can't readily draw that conclusion from those numbers. The customer is just as likely to walk away from a deal as a the landlord. They might find something else, not have enough money, decide to stay where they are or just be browsing without any real intent to buy. If a real estate agent closed every deal he worked on then you'd start to suspect that he was using a form of mind control.