# Creating a Comfortable Living Space

Section 1

Realizing Affluent Residential Living

## 1 Securing Stability of Residential Living and Advancing its Betterment

In accordance with the new release of the Housing Life Master Plan approved at the March 2011 Cabinet meeting, covering FY2011 to FY2020, to reflect the full-scale emergence of an aging society with falling birth-rates, declining population and families, changes in the socio-economic climate such as difficult employment and income environment, needs for housing life support services and more, the MLIT is advancing the implementation of measures aimed at securing the stability of residential living and its betterment with the following goals: a. Building a living environment that supports safe, secure and affluent residential living; b. Proper management and revitalization of housing; c. Preparing the environment for a housing market in which diverse housing needs are properly fulfilled; and d. Assuring the stability of housing for those who require special housing consideration.

## (1) Building a living environment that supports safe, secure and affluent residential living

To create safe, secure housing and residential environments, we are advancing earthquake-resistant construction of houses and buildings to be better prepared for large-scale earthquakes, while at the same time promoting “Smart Wellness Residences and Cities,” where different types of residences—such as households with elderly people, households with disabled people, or households raising children—can interact to create places to live that are safe and healthy. It also encourages the construction of housing with better energy-saving performance, utilization of local wood, etc. to get closer to the goal of realizing a low-carbon society.

The MLIT is also keen to preserve and form townscape and scenic beauty to add to the comfort and affluence of residential life, while enhancing the convenience of houses for people like the elderly living in urban areas, based on the concept of universal designs.

## (2) Proper management and renewal of housing

While apartment buildings have become a vital mode of housing for the nation as we reached a stock of about 6.01 million apartments (as of the end of 2013), we are urged to respond to a variety of tasks involved in advancing the proper management and renewal of these buildings.

For this, the MLIT is implementing the “Apartment Building Management Optimization and Renewal Promotion Project,” which aims to optimize the management and renewal of aging apartments buildings by accumulating success stories of forming consensus to address the challenges regarding apartment buildings.

In order to facilitate the renewal of aging apartment buildings, the “Law to Revise a Part of Laws related to the Facilitation of the Reconstruction of Apartment Buildings”—which contains the establishment of an apartment building premises sale system as well as special provision for easing the floor-area ratio—was established in June 2014 and put into effect in December of the same year. Along with this, the “Guidelines for the Sale of Apartment Building Premises with Insufficient Earthquake Protection” was drawn up and a consultation system is in place for receiving advice from specialists.