'20% of residential areas in Japan will be ghost towns'

[wuchan]

out here bike parking by the station is a money maker. 2,500 yen a month x 200 bikes = don't have to work.

[Coligny]

out here bike parking by the station is a money maker. 2,500 yen a month x 200 bikes = don't have to work.

Isn't fraud a bit of an issue with bikes' parking ?

[Samurai_Jerk]

A Sprawl of Ghost Homes in Aging Tokyo Suburbs

Ever since her elderly neighbor moved a decade ago, Yoriko Haneda has done what she can to keep the empty house she left behind from becoming an eyesore. Ms. Haneda regularly trims its shrubs and clips its narrow strip of grass, maintaining its perfect view of the sea.

The volunteer yard work has not extended to the house two doors down, however. That one is vacant, too, and overgrown with bamboo. In fact, dozens of houses in this hillside neighborhood about an hour’s drive from Tokyo are abandoned.

“There are empty houses everywhere, places where nobody’s lived for 20 years, and more are cropping up all the time,” said Ms. Haneda, 77, complaining that thieves had broken into her neighbor’s house twice and that a typhoon had damaged the roof of the one next to it.

Despite a deeply rooted national aversion to waste, discarded homes are spreading across Japan like a blight in a garden. Long-term vacancy rates have climbed significantly higher than in the United States or Europe, and some eight million dwellings are now unoccupied, according to a government count. Nearly half of them have been forsaken completely — neither for sale nor for rent, they simply sit there, in varying states of disrepair.

[...]

Many of Japan’s vacant houses have been inherited by people who have no use for them and yet are unable to sell, because of a shortage of interested buyers. But demolishing them involves tactful questions about property rights, and about who should pay the costs. The government passed a law this year to promote demolition of the most dilapidated homes, but experts say the tide of newly emptied ones will be hard to stop.

“Tokyo could end up being surrounded by Detroits,” said Tomohiko Makino, a real estate expert who has studied the vacant-house phenomenon. Once limited mostly to remote rural communities, it is now spreading through regional cities and the suburbs of major metropolises. Even in the bustling capital, the ratio of unoccupied houses is rising.

[...]

The city of Yokosuka is trying to change that, by encouraging owners of abandoned houses to tidy them up and put them on the market. It has established an online “vacant home bank” to showcase houses that commercial real estate agents will not touch. Land prices in Yokosuka are down by 70 percent since their peak at the end of the 1980s.

The houses are a steal for the rare souls who will have them. But just one has been sold through the home bank so far, a 60-year-old single-story wooden home with a patch of garden that was listed for 660,000 yen, or $5,400. Places farther up the hill can be had for the equivalent of just a few hundred dollars. Four have been rented, including one to students in a nursing-care program at a nearby college who receive a discount in return for checking up on elderly people in the area.

[...]

Raw numbers suggest there is a limit to how many homes can be rescued through reuse, however. Japan’s population of 127 million is expected to drop by a million a year in the coming decades. Efforts to increase its low birthrate have been only modestly successful, and the public has shown no appetite for mass immigration. “We have too much infrastructure,” said Takashi Onishi, an urban planning professor and the president of the Science Council of Japan. The government, he believes, will eventually have to cut services like water and road and bridge maintenance in the most depopulated areas. “We can’t maintain it all. We’ll have to make those hard choices.”

The most blunt solution for abandoned houses is to tear them down before they become hazards or their neighborhoods earn an irreversible reputation for blight. But owners can be hard to track down, and are often reluctant to pay demolition costs.

The house that Ms. Haneda tends is owned by the family of Mioko Utagawa, 74, who lives a 10-minute walk down the hill. Ms. Utagawa’s husband bought it for an aunt in the 1970s after she divorced and moved here from Tokyo. Now she is in a nursing home. The family has been paying her modest property taxes but has otherwise left the house alone. The interior is a musty wreck; a small addition that once housed the bath has been ripped out, and the bathtub sits upturned on the faithfully manicured lawn.

“Even if we fixed it up nobody would want it,” Ms. Utagawa said.

The Utagawas recently agreed to have the house demolished, after the city offered to subsidize the estimated 3 million yen cost, under a municipal program introduced last year to deal with hazardous or hopelessly unsellable homes. It is scheduled for destruction this fall. Noriyuki Shima, the director of the city’s planning department, said cost considerations meant the city was targeting only the worst-affected neighborhoods.

“Giving public money to demolish a private house isn’t something we can do lightly,” he said.

[...]

The new national law, which came into effect in May, could help more municipalities cull their vacant houses. Among other changes, it removed a perverse incentive that has contributed to the problem. A tax break introduced decades ago to encourage home construction sets property tax rates on vacant lots at six times the level of those on built-up land. That means that if an owner demolishes a home, the tax rate soars — a big reason many let even crumbling houses stand.

Now the government can revoke the preferential tax treatment for houses whose absentee owners are letting them fall apart. But some critics say Japan needs a more fundamental shift in its approach to housing, which has long prioritized new construction over reuse.

[matsuki]

The new national law, which came into effect in May, could help more municipalities cull their vacant houses. Among other changes, it removed a perverse incentive that has contributed to the problem. A tax break introduced decades ago to encourage home construction sets property tax rates on vacant lots at six times the level of those on built-up land. That means that if an owner demolishes a home, the tax rate soars — a big reason many let even crumbling houses stand.

Now the government can revoke the preferential tax treatment for houses whose absentee owners are letting them fall apart. But some critics say Japan needs a more fundamental shift in its approach to housing, which has long prioritized new construction over reuse.

Isn't this what it pretty much comes down to?

[Samurai_Jerk]

The new national law, which came into effect in May, could help more municipalities cull their vacant houses. Among other changes, it removed a perverse incentive that has contributed to the problem. A tax break introduced decades ago to encourage home construction sets property tax rates on vacant lots at six times the level of those on built-up land. That means that if an owner demolishes a home, the tax rate soars — a big reason many let even crumbling houses stand.

Now the government can revoke the preferential tax treatment for houses whose absentee owners are letting them fall apart. But some critics say Japan needs a more fundamental shift in its approach to housing, which has long prioritized new construction over reuse.

Isn't this what it pretty much comes down to?

That and demolition costs. The article mentions 3 million yen for that one family to tear down the home they inherited. That's a lot of money to spend on something you don't want, can't use, and probably won't be able to sell at all let alone sell it for enough money to make it worth your while to spend anymore that you have to on it.

[matsuki]

I want to say that it seems worth it to basically buy a shitbox, park my motorhome on it, and rebuild it from the inside-out to avoid the usual approvals....but then I've seen some amazingly shitty foundations and poor concrete work here. Chugokumitai-level stuff.

[Coligny]

Despite a deeply rooted national aversion to waste, discarded homes

Whut ?

[Samurai_Jerk]

Despite a deeply rooted national aversion to waste, discarded homes

Whut ?

It's called mottainai, motherfucker!

Now you remember that next time you buy a potato in a foam cozy that gets triple wrapped in paper before being taped inside a plastic bag at the register.

[matsuki]

Or put simply, despite a deeply rooted belief that We Japanese have an aversion to waste...it's mostly bullshit.

[Russell]

Corrected your link:

A Sprawl of Ghost Homes in Aging Tokyo Suburbs

[Samurai_Jerk]

Corrected your link:

A Sprawl of Ghost Homes in Aging Tokyo Suburbs

Me too. Thanks.

[Coligny]

Despite a deeply rooted national aversion to waste, discarded homes

Whut ?

It's called mottainai, motherfucker!

Now you remember that next time you buy a potato in a foam cozy that gets triple wrapped in paper before being taped inside a plastic bag at the register.

In my sticks if I want potatoes I go to autobacs where they give a free kilo with any car related purchase...

Or was it JM's ?

[matsuki]

Despite a deeply rooted national aversion to waste, discarded homes

Whut ?

It's called mottainai, motherfucker!

Now you remember that next time you buy a potato in a foam cozy that gets triple wrapped in paper before being taped inside a plastic bag at the register.

In my sticks if I want potatoes I go to autobacs where they give a free kilo with any car related purchase...

Or was it JM's ?

You should have seen the panic at the Docomo shop when I tried to refuse the free can of juice and pocket tissue with my new phone.

Who comes up with these キャンペイン? (BTW, how the fuck does ジェイムズbecome JMS？？)

[kurogane]

It's called mottainai, motherfucker!

Now you remember that next time you buy a potato in a foam cozy that gets triple wrapped in paper before being taped inside a plastic bag at the register.

Bought 5 items that came with 8 plastic bags....................thank god I opted out on the 3 yen carry bag.......

Trip advisor, etc. comments during the Olympics should be good humour.

So, did we find out where the Utagawa's neighbourhood is, and is it nice? It sounds like I could save a bundle buying one of those up the hill places and renting AirBnB occasionally.

EDIT: Yokosuka, yes???? OOooook. At least I could buy me some shoes that fit.

Gots it:
https://www.city.yokosuka.kanagawa.jp/4 ... t-top.html
OR THIS???
http://www.city.yokosuka.kanagawa.jp/48 ... odate.html

Not quite the bargoon shoppe that article made out. Seems more like New Town mid-80s crap for rent than mid Showa Lost Treasures to buy for an enka song

[matsuki]

google streetview?? The slumdog nippon shacks in the pics aren't very encouraging....though they look like they can be torn down for less than 300man....

[kurogane]

They only give Cho coordinates, no banchi, and I am allegedly Busy working right now.........

I also find the 30,000, 000 yen ($300,000~ CAD!???) yen amount for a teardown to be high, but in those chockablock stairs only neighbourhoods ya never know, eh!?

Dibs on this one: https://www.city.yokosuka.kanagawa.jp/4 ... en222.html

[Samurai_Jerk]

They only give Cho coordinates, no banchi, and I am allegedly Busy working right now.........

I also find the 30,000, 000 yen ($300,000~ CAD!???) yen amount for a teardown to be high, but in those chockablock stairs only neighbourhoods ya never know, eh!?

Dibs on this one: https://www.city.yokosuka.kanagawa.jp/4 ... en222.html

3 mil not 30. Still seems pretty expensive but knowing what they charge for a lot of services in Japan not hard believe.

[matsuki]

Seeing as how they thought dual pane windows and doors were just simply two sets of windows and doors, you'd think there would be more of a market for stuff like that. (but if we're talking jiji/baba owners, I guess the net is out of their reach?)

[Russell]

So, did we find out where the Utagawa's neighbourhood is, and is it nice? It sounds like I could save a bundle buying one of those up the hill places and renting AirBnB occasionally.

EDIT: Yokosuka, yes???? OOooook. At least I could buy me some shoes that fit.

Gots it:
https://www.city.yokosuka.kanagawa.jp/4 ... t-top.html
OR THIS???
http://www.city.yokosuka.kanagawa.jp/48 ... odate.html

Not quite the bargoon shoppe that article made out. Seems more like New Town mid-80s crap for rent than mid Showa Lost Treasures to buy for an enka song

First list are properties that can not be reached by car and which require climbing at least 40 steps.

LOL

What were these people thinking when they built it?

[wagyl]

And the second list requires you to move in and register residence as a family with children. Is that you, Kuro?

[wagyl]

What were these people thinking when they built it?

4. Profit.

[kurogane]

Well, that and a place to live........

I noticed that about that second list, and the first seem to be rentals. Some Land Bank. I took a decent look at the city website, too, and didn't find any hidden gems. I think the article glossed that bit, or mistook rent for purchase price. Oh well. I could do 40 steps with an electric bicycle mule setup, but it would take some creative BSing to qualify for the families with kids list, ferschur.　Not to mention that Yokosuka itself seems kinda shit.

Thanks for the help counting, too there.

[inflames]

New York Times article is from August last year.

There are tons of vacant homes here and things aren't being done about them - there are a few that I know of in the middle of Osaka, in addition to a rather famous vacant office building.

The problem is that most people simply never really took care of their homes and so after 30 years of not being taken care of, the homes are basically shitholes.

[Takechanpoo]

https://www.how-ma.com/

[MrUltimateGaijin]

http://www.fudousan.or.jp/system/?act=d&pref=14&type=14&n=100&s=n&p=2&v=on&bid=01286813&org=ZT

Pardon my posting skills, but who, the fuck, is going to pay almost a hundred grand for that?

[Samurai_Jerk]

http://www.fudousan.or.jp/system/?act=d&pref=14&type=14&n=100&s=n&p=2&v=on&bid=01286813&org=ZT

Pardon my posting skills, but who, the fuck, is going to pay almost a hundred grand for that?

You know you also pay for the land it's on, right?

[Coligny]

http://www.fudousan.or.jp/system/?act=d&pref=14&type=14&n=100&s=n&p=2&v=on&bid=01286813&org=ZT

Pardon my posting skills, but who, the fuck, is going to pay almost a hundred grand for that?

9milliuns yens for a huge piece of land...
If you keep the ruin on top and dig an underground shelter below it can become a nice bug out bunker.
Or secondary murder scene...

[wagyl]

http://www.fudousan.or.jp/system/?act=d&pref=14&type=14&n=100&s=n&p=2&v=on&bid=01286813&org=ZT

Pardon my posting skills, but who, the fuck, is going to pay almost a hundred grand for that?

Hayama address, access from two sides...
Does anyone else doubt that it was built in 1955?

[legion]

Isn't Hayama where emperor-sama has his summer home?

[MrUltimateGaijin]

http://www.fudousan.or.jp/system/?act=d&pref=14&type=14&n=100&s=n&p=2&v=on&bid=01286813&org=ZT

Pardon my posting skills, but who, the fuck, is going to pay almost a hundred grand for that?

You know you also pay for the land it's on, right?

It's the piece of crap on top of the land that's the problem.