~~ recommended by emil karpo ~~
Japan's infrastructure ministry is developing a system that combines administrative information held by local governments to detect vacant houses using artificial intelligence.
Based on information such as water usage, basic resident registers and real estate registries, the system uses AI to calculate the probability that a building is unoccupied. For example, if the building is an old wooden house with very low water use and only one elderly resident registered, the system displays a high probability that the house is unoccupied.
As some vacant houses are difficult to identify from the exterior alone, the aim of the new system is to detect them at an early stage and make them available for sale or rent, or demolish them before they collapse.
The number of household members and their ages are included in basic resident registers, and the age and structure of properties can be learned through real estate registries. The new system analyses the probability of vacant houses by combining these housing-related data. The accuracy of calculation by the system is improved by combining not only information held by public authorities but also water and power usage data provided by utility companies.
The results of the analysis are shown as a percentage for each property on a digital map. The ministry intends to make the system available free of charge in the future so that it can be used by local governments across the country. Prior to this, the system will be tested in two cities this month to see if it operates properly.
According to the internal affairs ministry, as of October 2023 there were 3.85 million vacant houses with no intended use across Japan. Such houses may collapse if they are left unattended and become ravaged, possibly causing security problems and deterioration of the surrounding environment.
To cope with such a situation, the infrastructure ministry intends to promote the utilization of vacant houses in good condition by putting them on the real estate market. As real estate agents tended to shy away from dealing in vacant houses due to their low transaction prices and low brokerage fees, the ministry raised the maximum amount of brokerage fees for vacant houses in July 2024.
Meanwhile, for vacant houses that are at high risk of collapse or in a poor state of management, a program has been established whereby local municipalities can urge owners to repair the houses or they can demolish the houses on behalf of their owners. Under the program, some 193,000 houses were repaired or demolished in the nine years to fiscal 2023.
