In Nichinan, Japan, a city of about 50,000 people on the southwestern island of Kyushu, a house that had sat abandoned for more than a decade gained new life this summer.
The building, situated in a shopping district just a six-minute walk away from Kyushu Railway's Aburatsu Station, was remodeled into a stylish home over the course of two months by Tokyo-based startup ADDress for its subscription-based housing service.
President Takashi Sabetto said he decided to refurbish the place the moment he laid eyes on it.
The startup is among those finding gold in Japan's vast stock of vacant homes, which has swelled by 50% over the past two decades to 8.5 million. These buildings, typically seen as obstacles to redevelopment or outright hazards, are being brought back into service to accommodate new ways of living and working in the modern economy.
Established just last year, ADDress leases or buys vacant or rarely used houses and renovates them into livable homes. For 40,000 yen ($365) a month, users can stay in any of its 26 properties around Japan, with no need for a lease or deposits.
ADDress members, who now number in the hundreds, are often gig economy workers without a single set workplace or steady hours.
This ADDress property in the city of Nichinan was once home to a greengrocer.
The company has received hundreds of contacts about potential new locations. But "90% of the properties would be tough to use" in their current form, said Masahiro Takamoto, a team leader at ADDress in charge of those negotiations. Most rejections are because the homes lack access to public transportation or are too large to manage effectively.
To turn abandoned houses into places where subscribers would want to stay, ADDress looks to establish communities based around certain themes. It assigns a "guardian" to each location and encourages them to draw in people who share their interests. One house near the beach has a guardian who enjoys surfing, for example.
ADDress partners with transportation companies to cut down on travel time to its properties. East Japan Railway has invested in the business through a subsidiary, and ANA Holdings has signed on as a partner.
