The Impact Of Home Renovations On Your Japanese Insurance Policy – As in other countries, Japanese homes tend to become worthless over time – but as the population shrinks, can its cities finally learn to slow down and renew?
In the suburbs of Midorigawa, about an hour by train outside of Kobe, Japan, the houses were all built by the same company in a single factory. Fitted with steel frames with paneled walls and roofs, these houses were once a brand new commuter town by hundreds of people. But they weren’t built to last.
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Daiwa House, one of Japan’s largest prefabricated housing manufacturers, built the town during the post-war housing boom of the 60s. It’s not like the suburban subdivisions of the Western world, with porches, balconies and rooflines that slide and repeat up and down gently curving streets. Most of the houses built in the 60s no longer stand, long since replaced by newer models, complete with faux brick ceramic siding in beige, pink and brown. After all, most of these prefabricated houses – and indeed most houses in Japan – only have a lifespan of 30 years.
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Unlike other countries, Japanese homes depreciate slowly over time, becoming completely worthless within 20 or 30 years. When a person moves out of the house or dies, the house, unlike the land it sits on, has no resale value and is usually demolished. This scrap-and-build approach is a peculiarity of the Japanese housing market that can be variously explained by low-quality construction to meet rapid post-World War II demand, frequent building code revisions to improve seismic resilience, and a cycle of poor maintenance. Lack of incentives to make homes marketable for resale.
In Midorigao, even new houses built in the 80s and 90s are nearing the end of their expected life. Under normal circumstances, their days can be numbered.
But at the end of a block, there’s a sign things are changing. Scaffolding surrounds an empty house on a corner, and workers from Daiwa House hunker down inside. They’re not demolishing the house, but renovating it — rearranging the floor plan, knocking down walls, opening up the kitchen and adding insulation. Instead of tearing down the house so the next buyer can build something new, they’re rebuilding it from the inside out and putting it back on the market. It’s a relatively rare commodity, but increasingly common in Japan: a secondhand home.
“For the first time, Japanese people are beginning to appreciate living in old age homes,” says Daiwa House public information officer Noboru Kaihou.
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Everywhere from major metropolitan areas such as Tokyo and Osaka to medium-sized cities to suburban housing estates, renovated buildings are a booming property market, symbolizing the dramatic transformation Japan is undergoing. The country is shrinking, with a negative growth rate expected to bring its current population of about 127 million down to 88 million by 2065. It is also an aging society, and within 20 years a third of its residents will be 65 or older. As the population shrinks and ages, it is also becoming concentrated in metropolitan areas, emptying millions of suburban and rural homes. According to Nomura Research Institute, the current vacancy rate nationwide is around 13% and this figure is expected to increase to over 30% by 2033. Coupled with Japan’s stagnant economy, these figures have convinced many that the market for new buildings will open up. dry
Like Daiwa House, many other major housing manufacturers are venturing into the renovation business. 45 minutes north of Tokyo, the country’s largest prefab builder, Sekisui House, operates a home park with its latest models. Most cater to the higher end of the market, with large multi-story layouts and luxury finishes, but a two-story home tucked into a corner is more common. The first floor is furnished like a typical house built in the 80s: small rooms, high sectional spaces and even a recliner in the living room. Upstairs, the same floor plan has been updated so that the kitchen opens up to the dining area and the walls are pushed back or removed entirely. A traditional tatami mat sitting room in the old layout becomes a media room, with a low couch and flatscreen television.
For a company, this simple renovation can turn an empty house into a new sale. “If we can rebuild these old houses, their value will not drop to zero and we won’t have to demolish them,” says Kenichi Ishida, managing officer of Sekisui House. “Young people don’t have much money these days, so they don’t hesitate to buy old buildings.”
That economic reality is evident in Takatsuki, halfway between Osaka and Kyoto. “A lot of the younger generation around me live in renovated houses,” says a 39-year-old resident. He himself lives in a renovated Sekisui house with his wife and two young children, and notes that the cost of a renovated house is much lower than a new one. “We want to save money to take care of our children and parents,” he says. “For us, a renovated house near my parents’ house is worth more than a newly built house far away.”
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A model showing the floorplan of a pre- and post-renovation home built by housing manufacturer Sekisui House at their showroom facility in northern Tokyo, Japan. Photo: Nate Berg
It’s not just the big housing manufacturers that are catching on. Zoe Ward is a Tokyo real estate agent and CEO of Japan Property Central, which specializes in finding homes for foreigners, and she says buyers are beginning to rethink the value of older buildings. New companies have opened in recent years that focus specifically on refreshing old spaces. “Sometimes they’ll put the whole building in its concrete shell,” she says. “The buildings on the outside will look no different from the surrounding buildings, but on the inside it will look like a brand new house.”
As demand for housing rises in Tokyo, renovation companies are looking for people ready to sell. “We call them every day,” says Ward.
Renovation is not always an option. In the Tokyo suburb of Takikawa, Shiro Kawashima and his wife, both middle-aged, walk through a shabby neighborhood of model homes. Built by prefabricated-housing manufacturers and local carpenters, the homes are on display and available for tours guided by eager salespeople. The couple who live next door are, reluctantly, shopping for a new home. “I’m really proud of my old home,” he says. “It’s sad but I have to tear it up.”
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The house is 70 years old – a rarity – and suffers from structural damage that would be prohibitively expensive to repair. Moving is also out of the budget, so his only option is to demolish the old house and build a new one. The houses displayed here do not appeal to him. “Not at all,” he says dejectedly. “I just want a simple, basic design,” he says. Like his current home.
Young people, especially in urban areas, have more flexible options. New companies are looking beyond traditional housing to accommodate them. In recent years, many small development companies have been buying old buildings and giving them new uses. Tokyo-based company ReBITA is converting apartment buildings, offices and company dormitories into shared live-work spaces – affordable rental units with common kitchens and work areas. Such spaces were uncommon in Japan five years ago, says Azbi Brown, director of the Future Design Institute at the Kanazawa Institute of Technology in Tokyo. “It’s a new lifestyle and I don’t think the big housing companies have really pushed it yet.” He says it’s as much about embracing more community-oriented living as it is about lowering housing prices. Some see these types of social spaces as a way to reverse the country’s low birthrate.
In the face of Japan’s demographic trends, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government is doing its own social engineering as it focuses on renovating the mid-rise and high-rise apartment buildings that sprung up in the city in the 60s and early 70s. To breathe new life into these buildings, the capital is encouraging families with young children to move in by prioritizing their applications. It is helping people qualify for housing slots if they choose to live near their elderly parents. “All of these efforts have to do with our aging society,” says Hiroyuki Ebina, director of planning and housing at the Bureau of Urban Development.
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But it’s not just about refreshing residential pools. The buildings in question are often maintained by tenant associations, and as older tenants die off, there is less money for maintenance and earthquake retrofits. To further contribute to those efforts, the national government’s Urban Renaissance Institute is trying to lure
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