Figure II-5-1-2 Purposes and Results of Public Rental Housing

Purpose	Number of houses managed
Public housing	Supplies quality rental housing to low-income earners who are in serious need of housing with low rent.	About 2.17 million houses (FY2012)
Improved housing	Supplies public rental housing to existing residents who are in serious need of housing in a deteriorated residential area.	About 150,000 houses (FY2012)
UR rental housing	Supplies quality rental housing that is conveniently located for access to work, focusing on family-oriented rental housing hardly in ample supply from private business entrepreneurs, in major urban areas, as well as develops residential districts (since FY2002, a privately supplied support rental housing program has been launched to support the supply of family-oriented rental housing from private business entrepreneurs).	About 750,000 houses (FY2012)
Agency rental housing	Supplies quality rental housing to fill the regional demand for rental housing.	About 130,000 houses (FY2012)
Regional excellent rental housing	Provides subsidies to private land owners to fund maintenance and other expenses and cover rent cuts to provide excellent rental housing for households consisting of elderly people, child-raising families, etc.	- About 130,000 designated excellent rental houses (FY2012)
- About 34,000 designated excellent rental houses for elderly people (FY2012)

### b. Utilization of private rental housing

The MLIT is committed to providing housing support services, including making housing information available, to enable elderly people, physically handicapped people, foreigners, child-raising families and so on to move into private rental housing smoothly through the help of a Housing Support Council, which is composed mainly of local governments, real estate associations and housing support bodies, to improve the safety net functionality of private rental housing.

## 2 Supply and Utilization of Good Housing Land

## (1) Land price trends

The result of the 2014 posted land prices (as of January 1, 2014) showed that the national average price has still been dropping, however, the rate of decline has continued to shrink, and the percentage in the number of rising points have significantly increased. Particularly in the averages for the three major metropolitan areas, prices for both residential properties and commercial properties have started to rise.

If we look at the trend in posted land over the six months from the same point in the 2013 Prefectural Land Survey (as of July 1, 2013), the residential property prices in the three major metropolitan areas have mostly risen at the same rate, and prices for commercial properties have a stronger rising rate in the latter half. The rate of decline for both residential and commercial rates shrank in the latter half in the rural areas.

## (2) Present status and problems in housing land supply

There is a driving shift from the traditional course of policy that promoted a large supply of new housing land to a housing land policy that reflects trends in population and household. The Urban Renaissance Agency now works only on the new town projects that have already been initiated. The MLIT also supports the development of public facilities relevant to the development of housing land, and offers preferential tax measures to promote the supply of housing land furnished with a good dwelling environment.

## (3) Using fixed-term land leases

Fixed-term land leases is a system that is instrumental in providing quality housing at an affordable price, because contract termination is determined by the expiry of a predetermined contract term, without being renewed. By the end of 2012, more than 70,000 houses had been supplied on a fixed-term land lease basis.