Affordable Housing Policies

in JAPAN

Shigetaka TAKAMIYA
Director for International Building Analysis
International Affairs Office, Housing Bureau, MLIT

1
Japan population trends and future estimates
〇Japan's total population peaked in 2008 and has been declining thereafter
140,000 AGE（0～14）
(thousands) Peak in 2008 AGE（15～64）
AGE（65～74）
120,000 AGE（75-）

100,000

80,000

60,000

40,000

20,000

0
1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050 2055 2060
2
Population migration to urban areas (1950s-60s)

○ Between 1955 and 1970, 5 million people migrated to

the Tokyo metropolitan area from provincial regions.

Approx. 5 million
people from
1955 to 1970

Tokyo
area

3
Number of Houses and Households
○ In 1945, there was a shortage of approximately 4.2 million housing units due to war
damage and people returning from overseas.
○ In 1968, the total number of housing stock exceeded that of total households in Japan.
(10 thousand) (stock per household)
7,000 The number of housing stock 1.20
exceeded that of households
6,000 in each prefecture
1.15

5,000
The total number of 1.10
4,000 housing stock
exceeded that of total 1.05
3,000 households in Japan

1.00
2,000

1,000 0.95

0 1948年 1958年 1963年 1968年 1973年 1978年 1983年 1988年 1993年 1998年 2003年 2008年 2013年 2018年
0.90
(H10 (H15 (H20 (H25 (H30
(S23年) (S33年) (S38年) (S43年) (S48年) (S53年) (S58年) (S63年) (H5年)
年) 年) 年) 年) 年)

Housing stock
住宅総数 1,391 1,793 2,109 2,559 Households
3,106 3,545 3,861 4,201 4,588 5,025 5,389 5,759 6,063 6,242
総世帯 1,865 2,182 2,532 2,965 3,284 3,520 3,781 4,116 4,436 4,726 4,997 5,245
Housing stock per
１世帯当たりの住宅数 0.96household
0.97 1.01 1.05 1.08 1.10 1.11 1.11 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16

Source: House and Land Survey (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications)
4
Establishment of Key Housing Policy Measures (1950s)
●Establishment of the three main components of housing policies
Housing Loan Corporation
(established in 1950)
Promote the purchase / construction of
housing by lending long-term low-interest
housing loans.

Public housing
(legislated in 1951)
Supply public rental housing for low-
income households, who are unable to
meet their housing needs, with low rent.

Japan Housing Corporation

(established in 1955)
Supply housing and housing lots in large
residential developments in metropolitan areas.

→ Reorganized to “Housing and Urban Development

Corporation” in 1981, "Urban Development
Corporation" in 1999, and Independent
Administrative Institution "Urban Renaissance Example of public housing
Agency" in 2004. (2 bedroom & 1 dining/kitchen type)
5
Three Components of Japan’s Housing Policy ①

Government Housing Loan Corporation (1950 - )

GHLC promotes affordable housing supply by
providing government-supported long-term low-interest
housing loans
Public Housing （1951-）
Local governments supply low-rent housing for low-
income households
Japan Housing Corporation （1955-）
JHC promotes rental housing and housing land
development mainly for medium-income workers in
the metropolitan areas.

6
Framework of GHLC （1950～2007）
○ GHLC (Government Housing Loan Corporation)” provided long
term fixed rate housing loans directly to “Individual Borrowers”
○ Necessary fund was raised through the Ministry of Finance (MOF),
including from “Postal Savings (Deposit from General Public)”
Payment Repayment
Private Ministry of Finance
Developers (General Appropriation)
Loan
(short term) Subsidy
2 years
Construct Ministry of Finance
and sell (FILP)
Loan
Housing GHLC
Mandatory
with quality (now JHF)
deposit Tax

Purchase Postal
Savings
Loan
(long term) Voluntary
35 years deposit

Individual General
Borrowers Public
Repayment
7
The Role of GHLC: Long term and fixed rate housing loans

The average scheme of housing loan through GHLC as of around 1970

（Suppose the price of the house is １００.）
・Down payment ４０
・Borrowings ６０ （GHLC Loan ３０, Private Loan ３０）
（The outline of GHLC loans as of around 1970）

○ Maximum Loan Amount 【The detached house at that time】

・ Maximum loan amount varied by structures,
sizes and locations of houses.
（The average LTV (Loan To Value) ratio of GHLC
loans had been about 30%.）

○ Loan Period
・ Wooden, etc. ： １８years
・ Semi-Fireproof ： ２５years
・ Fireproof ： ３５years

○ Eligibility of Borrowers
・ Monthly income should have been more than 6 times
as much as monthly installment.
（The criterion was equivalent to 16.7% DTI (Debt To
Income) ratio and only for the amount of GHLC loan.） 8
The Role of GHLC: Promoting houses with higher performance
○ GHLC underwriting criteria required higher housing performance (ex. structure for equipment
check and maintenance, energy performance, etc.) than that required by the Building
Standards Act※ which states minimum standards for all buildings.
※ Applies to all buildings. Inspection on the earthquake resilience performance, etc. is implemented.

GHLC’s Underwriting Criteria and the Building Standards Act

Much higher level

Level of technical standards

Technical
Standards
For
higher LTV ratio, etc.

Technical Insulation, checking port for equipment,

Standards durability, etc. of houses
mandatory for
GHLC loan ■Standards for buildings
Structure, fire resilience, evacuation
plan, general structure, equipment,
The Building Standards Act etc.
Applicable to all houses ■Standards for urban development
Building use, design, etc.
（As of 1997） 9
The Role of GHLC: Promoting houses with higher performance
○ GHLC checked the compliance of GHLC financed houses to its technical standards through
interim inspections during construction.

More GHLC financed houses survived the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake（1995）.※１

（※１ Nearly 6,500 were dead or missing)

Ratio of houses destroyed or heavily damaged※２

※２
・ Other wooden structure houses : Based on an analysis of 3,953
houses in Chuo-ku, Kobe city
・ GHLC financed houses : Based on an analysis of 1,068 houses
in the area which vibrated to the extent of 7th degree on Japanese
earthquake scale in Takarazuka City, Nishinomiya City, Kobe City,
etc.
(Source) Survey on the damage of the Southern Hyogo Prefecture Earthquake on
houses built with loans from Government Housing Loan Corporation in 1995
Report by the committee for the survey of the building damage of Hanshin-Awaji
(Source：Building Research Institute, Report on the damage
Earthquake, which occurred in 1995 10
of the Southern Hyogo Prefecture Earthquake in 1995)
Three Components of Japan’s Housing Policy ②

Government Housing Loan Corporation (1950 - )

GHLC promotes affordable housing supply by
providing government-supported long-term low-interest
housing loans

Public Housing （1951-）

Local governments supply low-rent housing for
low-income households

Japan Housing Corporation（1955-）

JHC promotes rental housing and housing land
development mainly for medium-income workers in
the metropolitan areas.

11
Public Housing
○ Public housing is a low-rent housing provided for low-income households with housing difficulties.
○ In principle, public housing is built and managed by local authorities.
○ Construction costs are subsidized by the national government, reducing the rent paid by residents.
○ The following households are eligible:
- Category 1 public housing: income quantile 17-40%*
- Category 2 public housing: income quantile 0-17%*
- In principle, households of 2 or more people
*The standard from 1968 to 1971 when the greatest amount of public housing was supplied

National support for public housing Public housing layout

<A 1965 standard 2DK public dwelling＞
[Costs required for provision]
(Category 1 public housing) (Category 2 public housing)

Wooden
National floor Tatami-mat Closet
government
1/2 National room room 1

government
2/3
Entrance Closet

Local
Construction authority* Local Kitchen Tatami-mat
cost authority* room 2
Bath
Local Local
Land authority* authority* Balcony
purchase
cost *Local bond issuance is possible

Note: The figures above are based on the system before 1996. The current system has changed. 12
Example of Public Housing
Huge Housing Complex in suburb area Typical unit Plan
in the 1960s (Public housing in the 1960s)

Murayama housing (Higashi Murayama city Tokyo met.) 1965

【5,260 housing units in 55ha land area】

Typical specifications of public housing in the 1960s

Building format : Mid-story building with staircase (around 60%)
Structural Format : Reinforced concrete
Room type : 1or 2 bedrooms
Space : 34㎡ to 44㎡
Washroom : Equipped
Bathroom : Not obligatory 13
Annual Supply of Public Housing

unit
120,000

Number of newly
100,000 constructed units

80,000

60,000
Number of
improved units
40,000
Number of
20,000 reconstructed units

Annual Supply (1951-2011)

Stock: 2.17 million units (2012)
14
Existing Stock of Public Housing
1.54 million units (72%) were
built more than 30 years ago.

（thousand units）
90
Total Stock: 2.13 million units (2021)
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
S20 1950
1945 S25 1955
S30 1960
S35 1965
S40 1970
S45 1975
S50 1980
S55 1985
S60 1990
H2 1995
H7 2000
H12 2005
H17 2010
H22 2015
H27 2019
R1
（年度）
国土交通省作成（R3.３末現在）
Source: MLIT (2021.3)
Existing Stock by built year
15
Three Components of Japan’s Housing Policy ③

Government Housing Loan Corporation (1950 - )

GHLC promotes affordable housing supply by
providing government-supported long-term
low-interest housing loans

Public Housing (1951 - )

Local governments supply low-rent housing
for low-income households

Japan Housing Corporation (1955 - )

JHC promotes rental housing and housing land
development mainly for medium-income workers in
the metropolitan areas.
16
Japan Housing Corporation (JHC)
○JHC developed and supplied a large number of collective rental housing units and residential
land lots mainly for middle-income workers to deal with the huge migration to the metropolitan
areas.

Scheme of Housing Supply and

Residential Land Development
Guarantee
Japanese Government
Long-term and Low-interest
Funds （Fiscal Investment and
Loan Program, etc.）
Private funds
• Capital injection
• Subsidies for
interest payments

Japan Housing Corporation

Housing loan

Supply of Housing and

Construction of Rental Housing
Residential Land
17
Housing supply by Japan Housing Corporation
·JHC promoted mass housing supply of Example of New Town development
similar unit plans
·Housing units in the same projects were
supplied at the same time. (As a result,
residents in the same area are usually in
the same generation)
·Most projects were consisted of large
housing developments

Tama New town（Tokyo） 【1971】

Example of large-scale housing complex Number of housing units ：58,239
(supplied by UR：10,954（rent）16,659（sale）)

Kori Danchi（Osaka） 【1958】 Soka Matsubara（Saitama） 【1962】 Chigusadai Danchi（Chiba）【1965】

Number of units：4,881（rent）172（sale） Number of units：5,926（rent） Number of units：2,099（rent） 18
Devices for mass-supply of housing in Japan
○The development of unified nationwide housing design standard and the standardization of
housing modules and components contributed to the industrialization of housing production
and efficient supply of a large number of housing units.
Development of the nationwide Standardization of modules / housing
unified housing design standard (plan) components

Huge supply to resolve the housing shortage

(high-volume production, standardization) BL(Better Living)
Massive supply of dwellings with DK (dining components
room + kitchen) plan by JHC. (1974~)
<nationwide unified design standard: 63 Type>
Stair Case

Bathroom
Storage

Japanese room (2) WC

UP DOWN
Entrance

Japanese room (1)

Dining and
Kitchen

Storage Balcony
43 m2
19
Installation of Housing-related Public Facilities
○ Providing a large amount of housing requires the development of related public facilities such
as schools, parks, roads, and sewage systems.
○ The national and local governments supported and subsidized the development of these
public facilities.

Commercial Collective Detached

housings housings

Railway Pedestrian
Station
Station Deck
Sewerage

Station
Related Free passage Square

infrastructure
development Public
Bicycle Park
Parking Commercial School
Regulating
Pond

Parking

River

Main Road

20
Housing Construction Planning Act （1966）
1955: Housing Construction 10-Year Program "Solution to the shortage of 2.72
million housing units: Supply of 250,000 housing units every year“

1957: New Housing Construction

5-Year Program

1964: Housing Construction

7-Year Program

Establishment of the Housing

Construction Planning Act (1966)

1st Term Housing Construction

5-Year Program Soka-Matsubara Danchi (housing complex)
(1966-1970)
"Realization of one housing unit
for one household”
Supplied 2.6 million public housing units during the term. 21
Housing Construction 5-Year Program
Enactment of Housing Construction Planning Act (1966)
Enactment of housing
construction programs

1st Housing Construction 5-Year Program (1966–1970)

“A housing unit for every household”
Mass supply of Nationwide, the total number of housing units exceeded the
total number of households (1968)
public housing
2nd Housing Construction 5-Year Program(1971～1975)

The total number of housing units exceeded the total number of

households in every prefecture (1973)
Change from 3rd Housing Construction 5-Year Program(1976–1980)
quantity-oriented to
quality-oriented ▪Establishment of housing standard which should be guaranteed to all citizens
(minimum housing standard) and housing standard which should be guaranteed
to average households (average housing standard)

4th to 8th Housing Construction 5-Year Program（1980～2005）

Response to ▪Establishment of living environment standard
diverse housing Earthquake resistant, energy saving, barrier-free support, etc.
needs
Enactment of the Basic Act for Housing（2006）
22
The Basic Act for Housing (2006)
The Basic Act for Housing stipulates policies and basic principles to ensure and
improve stable housing, clarifies the responsibilities of the public sector, including
the National Government, and stipulates the formulation of basic plans for houses
and other fundamental matters to enable citizens to lead enriched lifestyles.
Background
Housing Construction 5-Year Program (formulated 8 times since 1966; 8th program ended in 2005)
◇Targets were set for numbers of houses to be constructed by public organizations, the Housing Loan
Corporation and the Japan Housing Corporation, every five years.

Drastic changes in socioeconomic conditions

Shift from
Quantity to •Sufficient stock of houses
Quality •Declining birthrate, decreasing population and
number of households

Shift to a new housing policy

Policies related to ensuring and improving stable housing

Provision of safe, secured and high-quality housing stock
and living environment
Housing market environment improvement for optimization of
housing transactions and facilitation of distribution
Establishment of housing safety nets for people having
difficulty to secure a house
23
24
Measures to improve housing situation in Cambodia

Problem Measures (draft)

・Insufficient ・Creation of public housing
housing supply system
・Promoting the supply of
rental housing
・Ensure housing ・Introduction of housing
quality design standard
・Standardization of modules
・Creation of inspection
system
・Housing Loan for ・Creation of long-term, fixed-
low income people rate housing loan system
Thank you very much for your attention!

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