Apartments for trial relocation drawing popularity

April 9, 2018

Hadano, Kanagawa Pref.- Apartments offered by the city of Hadano in Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, in a project to encourage families raising children to move to the suburban municipality on a trial basis have been drawing popularity with discount rents and a good location.

The apartment building, called "Miraie Hadano," has been close to full occupancy since it became available for residence in February last year.

With seven sets of residents already deciding to settle in Hadano, the project is attracting attention from other suburban municipalities trying to deal with falling populations.

Miraie Hadano is located a seven-minute bus ride from Hadano Station, which is about an hour from Shinjuku in central Tokyo by train, on Odakyu Electric Railway Co.'s Odakyu Line.

The city spent 384 million yen to renovate the six-story reinforced-concrete apartment building, which was formerly used for company housing.

Each of the 57 one-bedroom apartments has an area of 40 square meters. Monthly rents are set at 45,000 yen or 47,000 yen, about 10,000 yen cheaper than the rents for similar apartments in nearby areas.

The city rents the apartments for up to five years to couples both aged 35 or less, or couples with only children of preschool age, who are willing to eventually settle in Hadano.

The building houses a childcare support facility on its first floor and offers views of Mount Fuji.

As of March this year, 25 of the 56 households living in the apartments came from areas outside Hadano, including Tokyo and the prefectures of Shizuoka, Aichi and Fukuoka.

Other municipalities in Kanagawa, such as the cities of Odawara and Hiratsuka, have shown strong interest in the project, with many of their officials visiting Hadano for inspections.

"I imagine that municipalities facing dwindling populations are curious about our project," said an official of the Hadano municipal government. "The project is worthwhile, although it may not be enough for population growth by itself." Jiji Press