Calling all home rental app-makers
A house in Ota Ward (Oakhouse.jp)
In the run-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the Japanese capital’s Ota Ward has given the green light to allow private homeowners to rent their spaces to visitors.
The Japan Times reports that the ward’s citizens have been clamouring for a practice, as they anticipating a huge influx of tourists in the next four years and not enough hotel rooms to accommodate them.
In December 2015, Ota Ward officials finally released a new policy to allow private home rentals, but with strict screening criteria.
Citizens who wish to rent out their homes to guests must notify neighbours living within 10 metres of the property, and the local fire department must be informed as well.
More: 3 ingenious Asia vacation rental websites you should know about
In addition, the rules state that guests have to rent the property for a minimum of six nights and seven days, with visitor information – names, contact details and passport numbers – be kept for three years.
A foreign language expert should be present in the neighbourhood in case of emergencies. Ota Ward is home to Haneda airport and authorities are expecting a lot of foreign-speaking visitors.
This private accomodation practice is also being observed in Osaka Prefecture, per Japan Times.
Ota Ward’s announcement follows the announcement from Airbnb that Japan is now its fastest-growing international market, per TTG Asia, despite criticisms that some users fail to pay taxes, unlike regular hotels.
More: Co-living could be for you, if you’re looking for short-term rental deals
Many hotel operators believe that online vacation rental services like Airbnb violate Japan’s Hotel Business Law. The Japanese government is expected to make some changes to the law by autumn.
As the country opens up to online rental services, Japan has been named as a leader in rental growth in 2016, based on the latest Asia Pacific analysis by global property fund manager M&G Real Estate.
Along with Australia, Japan is benefitting from increased domestic spending, and thus landlords, particularly in retail, are adding or enhancing their properties and increasing rental rates.
Read next: Japan scraps plans to build this Olympic stadium
Source : property-report.com
Read more…Japan slowly opens up to the private home rental sector
