I have read that apartments/mansions have a planned useful life of 60 years.
At the conclusion of 60 years what happens to the building? Specifically, what happens to the owners of the apartments?
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/14pwlfo/future_of_apartmentsmansionscondominiums/
3 comments
Renew! Renew! Renew!
I live in a 60 year old mansion. There’s no plans to tear it down or anything, just continue maintaining it. At some point, we may get it seismically reinforced.
There are things about it being old that make it more expensive to maintain, but nobody is pushing to tear it down. Probably will continue as-is for at least another 20 years
The 60 years and 30 years for apartments and houses respectively is the amortization period for the building in Japanese tax laws. In other words, every year, a corporation can write off 1/60th of the value of the building. This has nothing to do with the service life of a building. Computers that are worth over 100,000 yen have a similar rule.
That said, older buildings in nicer areas have a higher chance of being redeveloped than newer buildings. It’s not a huge chance for most people. There are laws for compensation in the event that you get displaced due to rebuilding. I don’t have all the details but I have heard it’s several months’ worth of rent on average.