일본의 빈집문제 대응체계에 관한 고찰

Areas in decline are experiencing serous community collapse due to the emigration of residents and the increase of empty houses. The empty house phenomenon is expected to continue in the future because of decrease in population and slowdown in housing demand. This study considered systematic countermeasures of empty house through analyzing management system of empty house in Japan that has suffered from the same social issue. Japanese government enacted a law covering special cases of derelict houses and reorganized framework and countermeasure of empty house problem in 2015. The local government plays a primary role in coping with derelict house problem and build up a complementary system between interrelated departments. The municipal authorities can take stepwise legal actions for ‘specified vacant house’. If the owner take no reaction following the instruction, the authorities can proceed to compulsory execution. Even though the maintenance of an empty house basically is the role of the house owner, the government should build up a framework for systematic management of housing stock as social assets. The reorganization of the legal system is required to cope with the increase of empty houses in the near future.