From the previous post, we talked about how to find a rental accommadation in Japan. Click to find out what we shared. After knowing how to find a place to rent, today we are going to talk about the things you might need to know when renting in Japan.
At the below, we are going to mention about:
- What are the common house types in Japan?
- What do L, D, K mean respectively?
- Special area unit in Japan?
- Expenses when renting a house?
1. Common House Types
Common house types that can be found in Japan got：
a. Apartment (アパート)
This kind of apartment is usually a low-rise bulding with maximum of 3 floors only. It doesn’t have people to manage the building and public utilities. The building materials that it used also come with poor sound insulation and shock resistance than other house types but cheaper rental.
b. Apartment building マンション
This type of apartment is different from the apartment mentioned above. It is a multi-storey modern building made of reinforced concrete. It is usually equipped with administrators and access control system. It has higher security and relatively higher rents than apartment
3. House 一戸建
一戸建 means house in Japan
The room configuration in Japan is usually indicated by the number + LDK. LDK correspond to the abbreviation of Living Room, Dining Room and Kitchen respectively and the number showed the number of rooms in house.
So for 1LDK, it means that there are 1 room, 1 living room, dining room and kitchen, while 2LDK means there are 2 rooms, 1 living room, dining room and kitchen, and so on.
People in Japan tend to use Jou (帖/疉) to express the area of a room. 1 Jou is equal to 1.62 square meter.
But Jou normally only be used to express the area of a room only while people are still using square meter to express the area of a full house.
2. Common expenses for renting
There are many fees and items to be paid when renting a house in Japan. Usually we need to prepare for 4~6 months of rental to pay at the beginning of renting. We need to make sure that every expenses are disscussed and agreed with parties before signing the contract, this can avoid the dispute happen in future. Up next, we will introduce the name and intention of various fees one by one:
a. 賃料 ちんりょう：
This means rental
b. 管理費 かんりひ 或 共益費 きょうえきひ ：
Fee of managing and mantaining the public space
c. 礼金 れいきん：
Tenants will pay for 1~2 months of rent to landlords as gratuity for willing to rent the house and it cannot be refunded.
d. 敷金 しききん、保證金 ほしょうきん：
This is the deposit for renting. Normally it costs about 1~2 months of rental and will refund when the lease end.
e. 仲介手数料 ちゅうかいてすうりょう：
Agent fee, usually costs about 1 month of rental plus tax and normally the agent won't state it specifically unless you ask for. So it is suggested to ask for it before the deal complete.
f. 火災保険料 かさいほけんりょう：
Fire insurance premium, it is necessary to update it every 2 years
g. クリーニング代：
Cleaning fee, it is charged before move in or move out
h. 抗菌処理代 こうきんしょりだい：
Fees of disinfection and antibacterial
i. 更新料 こうしんりょう：
renewal fee for contract, normally costs about 1~1.5 month of contract
3. Rental contract
The lease term in Japan is 2 years. If you do not intend to live after 2 years, it is necessary to notify landlord 1 or 2 months in advance, otherwise you will assume that you will continue to live and it still need to pay the lease renewal fee.
As for wanting to cancel the contract and move out in advance, it depends on your rental contract or yout landlord. Some may be able to cancel the contract as long as you notify them 1 or 2 months in advance while some may no be able to cancel the contract or need to pay compensation.
All above are the information that you can use while you are trying to find a rental accommadation in Japan. Hope the information that we provided can help you find your very own ideal house. Besides above, welcome to share your comments in below and exchange the information with others!
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