(4) Ensuring living stability for people who require special care in housing assurance

4) Environmental development of the existing housing market

In order to develop the business environment where high-quality existing housing units are traded, MLIT promotes the Housing Performance Indication System for existing housing, improves information provision on real estate transaction prices, and popularizes the housing valuation manual, which includes how to evaluate the quality of existing housing.

Moreover defect warranty insurance related to secondary housing dealing with consumers' needs is being developed. In December 2009, insurance was first provided to the market. In addition, the endorsement enabling the transfer of insurance for newly-built housing to the second owner after resale was provided to the market.

5) Development of the rental housing market

Regarding the rental housing market, in order to improve the quality of the stock of rental housing from one’s own house such as apartments, environment development is being worked out, such as the popularization of the fixed-term rental scheme and the correction of sublease businesses $ ^{1} $ .

## 6 ) Promotion of living downtown

Accompanying the continual problem of a low birthrate and the aging of society, the development of an area that facilitates senior citizens and parenting families to go downtown on foot is demanded. Additionally, while the hollowing of urban districts is continuing, it is necessary to resuscitate liveliness through the promotion of living downtown.

Furthermore, it is also important to realize a comfortably affluent life, through an urban structure that shortens the distance between workplace and home and remake the district into an attractive place with multiple and diversified urban functionalities including the residential function. For realizing these goals, measures are being pushed forward for encouraging the housing supply in the central and urban districts as well as attracting people to live downtown, through permission of System for Integral Design (3,126 as of March 2008), High-rise residential attraction districts (2 districts as of the end of March 2008), District Development Plans that Adequately Allocate Residential and Non-Residential Uses (41 districts as of March 2008) and the common housing supply business of urban districts based on the “Act on Vitalization of City Centers”.

7) Promotion of wooden housing

In order to strengthen the market competitiveness of wooden housing as well as to improve the skills of small-sized and medium housing constructors, who are the major players in wooden housing construction, MLIT encourages the development of technologies for construction of wooden housing, and a construction system in partnership between constructors and lumber suppliers.

1) Supply of public rental housing

In order to encourage the quality of rental housing supply for senior citizens, disabled persons and parenting families that need special care in terms of living stability in the regions, the regional quality rental-housing scheme is positioned as a complementary scheme to public housing. In addition, the subsidy on the development cost of public rental housing and rental fee reduction is being provided.

Moreover, in order to secure a housing safety net for unavoidable expulsion due to dismissal, various measures are being taken with cooperation of Hello Work in the country for housing stability assurance of dismissed people. Measures include the promotion of a one-stop service for providing unitarily the related information on public rental housing usable by dismissed people and related information on rental housing provided by urban revitalization organizations.