The number of vacant houses in Japan rose to a fresh record of 9 million in 2023, up 510,000 from the previous 2018 survey, with cases pushed up by the deaths of single elderly householders, government data showed Tuesday.
The number as of Oct 1 represents 13.8 percent of all houses in the country, also a record-high, and means that one in about seven homes is abandoned, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
The increase in vacant homes, known as akiya in Japanese, can be attributed to cases where properties are left unattended because single elderly dwellers die or enter nursing homes, while individuals who inherited the properties, opt to live in more convenient locations, according to the ministry.
The latest figure puts more pressure on central and local governments to take measures to demolish or reuse such uninhabited properties, as leaving them as is could raise the risk of the buildings collapsing, leading to a deterioration in public safety in the areas.
Progress has been slow in scrapping such houses partly due to the difficulty of identifying the owners.
The number of vacant homes stood at 1.72 million in 1973, when comparable data became available, comprising 5.5 percent of total houses. The figure rose to 4.48 million in 1993, and has doubled in the past 30 years, the ministry data showed.
Of the 9 million unoccupied dwellings, the majority at 4.43 million are available for rent, those for sale numbered 330,000 while empty second dwellings such as vacation homes stood at 380,000, the data showed. The status of the remaining 3.85 million is unknown, up 370,000 from the previous survey.
The total number of houses in Japan rose 2.61 million to 65.02 million, the survey showed, with those occupied rising 2.03 million to 55.65 million, reflecting a rise in single households even as the population shrinks.
But despite demand for houses remaining high, the increase in vacant homes suggests that they are not being fully utilized.
The Housing and Land Survey is carried out every five years since 1948.
