Study on sustainable rental housing with sublease partnership utilizing existing owner-occupied vacant houses

Abstract

Despite the increase in vacant houses in Japan, existing owner-occupied vacant houses are not sufficiently converted into rental housing due to homeowners’ anxieties in legal and economic matters. In this study, we explore cases of the housing projects introducing sublease partnerships of owner-occupied houses; the projects by the municipality as a PPP collaboration and the projects introducing a lump-sum payment of a rent as a purely private business. These projects are found to have succeeded in dispersing among parties the costs and the risks a homeowner would take by achieving the three conditions; (1) A deal including renovation work, (2) Fixed-term lease contract and (3) More credible contracting party. The sublease partnership has the potential to convert owner-occupied houses into rental housing. However, some challenges which limit the sustainability of the partnership are pointed out.