## Section 3 Efforts Directed at the Way of Living

As reported in the preceding chapter, as more people choose to stay single or to marry in a later stage of their life and birthrates continue to fall, households have transformed from the ways they used to be, with a single person, a married couple only, and families living with their parents under the same room on the rise. Further, youths' needs for dwelling have changed as more of them seek to live in the central area of a town or near a station. While youths continue to aspire for home ownership, the declining homeownership ratio on a nationwide scale and the high rate of dissatisfaction with private rental housings, which is typically inhabited by youths, seem to suggest that youths may not have attained the status of residence they seek, making it necessary to provide dwellings tailored to their needs. For this reason, programs will be launched to support would-be homeowners to acquire quality homes at an affordable cost and help improve the quality of private rental housings. Further, support will also be extended to those who need special care for housing amid rises in their burden of housing expenditure to help stabilize their dwelling, by providing public rental housing, etc.

## (1) Support for home ownership

The loan rates relating to housing that possesses excellent durability, fluidity and other characteristics have been lowered by the securitization support business, Flat 35S, administered by the Japan Housing Finance Agency to facilitate the ownership of good-quality homes. In addition, tax incentives are in place, such as housing loan tax credits and exclusion of gift taxes relating to home acquisition loans, etc. Consumer options for home acquisition have also been broadened to facilitate the ownership of good-quality homes at an affordable financial burden. The release of information on used houses and home modeling has been augmented to help animate the home resale and remodeling market.

## (2) Support for the supply of good-quality private rental housings, etc

The construction, etc. of energy-efficient rental housings, etc. is being financed by the Japan Housing Finance Agency. To improve the quality of existing private rental housings and make effective use of vacant housings, the expenses incurred to remodel vacant rental housings (energy-efficient remodeling works, etc.) are subsidized for people in the low-income bracket, child-raising families and the like wishing to move into an existing private rental housing (Project for Promotion to Built Private Rental Housing Safety Net). Further, a housing change business for senior people, etc. is being implemented to promote the leasing their aged and therefore increasingly inconvenient detached houses to child-raising families, etc. that need larger housing room. This will not provide child-raising families with a larger living space for railing their children but guarantee a consistent house rent income for the elderly people, thereby promoting their change to a dwelling better suited to their senior life.

### (3) Support for supply, etc. of public rental housings

While the burden of housing expenditure is rising as attested to by an expanding ratio of the amount of house rents to the amount of disposable income as pointed out in the preceding chapter, it would be necessary to assure those in need of housing care of a stable supply of housings by delivering public rental housings tailored to their needs and also facilitating their moving into private rental housing.

Municipal housing will be supplied fairly and precisely to those people in the low-income bracket who are unable to secure an appropriate level of housing on their own in the market. To ensure a supply of municipal housing tailored to local conditions, the Act on Public Housing was amended in 2012 to remove previous restrictions, such as the requirements for family members living together, allow singles, as well as than elderly people, to move in at the local governments' discretion. In addition, business entities offer incentives at their own discretion, such as an easing of requirements for income of tenants and prioritized occupancy.

The Urban Renaissance Agency not only allows singles to move into its rental housings but also offers special benefits for child-raising families, etc., such as easing the lottery winning probability for moving into newly built rental housings to 20 times. The good quality local rental housing system furthers the supply of rental housings to child-raising families, etc. by subsidizing the maintenance and rent reduction expenses borne by local governments (about 180,000 houses managed at the end of FY2011).

In parallel with the large-scale reconstruction of public rental housing developments, child-raising support facilities are