They want to revive rural Japan and stop homes from deteriorating because they are left vacant.
In Japan, the local government is on a mission to ensure that empty homes in their country are occupied as soon as possible. To this end, they have decided to start selling certain properties from as little as R6 000!
Further to this, they are also offering massive renovation subsidies to people who buy some of these abandoned homes.
In rural Japan, many homes are left abandoned after relatives die or people move out due to finding work in the city. They are then never reoccupied, but Japan is hoping that their new strategy will cause a resurgence of people wanting to live in these smaller towns.
Believe it or not, a survey in 2018 found that Japan has a staggering 8.49 million abandoned homes. And this number seems to be increasing year after year.
This commitment to boost Japan’s rural areas is a key part of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s socio-economic plans for the country. He made rural revitalisation a cornerstone of his policy when he took office in September, which secured a lot of political support for his campaign.
The government has set up certain “banks” and websites that people can visit to find these low-cost houses easily.
It is reported that in some cities and towns where buildings are aged, Japan is offering them to buyers at no cost at all, but homeowners will obviously have to fork out some money to get the buildings back in shape.