Japan has a huge housing problem. But it is very different from what it was in Poland

According to the Japanese Ministry of the Interior, in 2018, Japan had a total of 62.41 million apartments. Nomura Research Institute predicts that in 2023 this number will rise to 65.46 million.

Meanwhile, the National Institute for Population and Social Security Research predicts that Number of families in Japan It will peak at 54.19 million early next year. The number of families continues to grow despite the decline in the population as more and more people live alone due to the increase in life expectancy and the increasing proportion of unmarried people.

But when the number of families stops growing, “The number of housing surpluses could rise to 20 or 30 million” Ken Miura, a professor at Kyoto University, told Nikkei Asia.

As Miura explains, Japan suffered from a severe housing shortage from the end of World War II to the 1960s, Which prompted the government to pass legislation to facilitate the construction of homes. As a result, the shortage ended in 1973, but new home construction continued at a rate of over 1 million per year until 2000.

“It was from a period of high growth. Despite the expected population decline, the government did not change its policy and pushed developers to build more homes,” Miura said.

Nomura Research Institute predicts a sharp increase in the number of unoccupied homes after 2023, and estimates In 2038 it will reach 23.03 million apartments.

However, elderly people and single parents often find it difficult to find a home, Miura says. “If different government agencies, such as social services, start to manage information better, existing homes can be used more efficiently,” he adds.

The second solution is the demolition of empty houses. Crassone, a Nagoya-based company that helps unoccupied homeowners find the right demolition specialist, has created more than 10,000 jobs. Like demolitions.

There are already more than 400 apartments per 1000 people in Poland, but it is still not enough to meet the needs. 2.2 million drugs is still below the European average. Furthermore, many of the buildings are in poor condition and require replacement by the HRE Investments experts assessed at the beginning of the year.

The authors of the analysis noted, among other things, problems related to Quality Polish apartments.

“We are in the tail, for example, in terms of real estate area per capita. It is even worse if we look at the number of rooms per person” – they emphasized.

HRE Investments experts refer to Eurostat data For 2020, there are 1.2 rooms per person in Poland (compared to 1.1 a year ago).