人気ブログランキング | 話題のタグを見る

空き家問題 放置せず撤去・再活用したい

The Yomiuri Shimbun October 16, 2013
More must be done to turn abandoned houses into places to come home to
空き家問題 放置せず撤去・再活用したい(10月14日付・読売社説)

The central and local governments need to cooperate in working out how unoccupied or abandoned houses can be effectively used or removed.
 放置された空き家の再活用や撤去をいかに進めるか。国と自治体が連携し、実効性ある対策を打ち出さねばならない。

The Liberal Democratic Party plans to submit to the extraordinary Diet session a bill concerning special measures for unoccupied, abandoned houses. As it is feared the number of these houses will increase in line with the nation’s graying population and low birthrate, the central government needs to take action to address the problem.
 自民党は、臨時国会に空き家対策の特別措置法案を提出する方針だ。少子・高齢化とともに、空き家が増えることが懸念されており、政府が対策に乗り出すことは必要だろう。

According to an Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry survey, there are about 7.6 million unoccupied houses in Japan, accounting for 13 percent of the total number.
 総務省の調査によると、全国の空き家は約760万戸に上り、住宅全体の13%を占める。

These unoccupied and often dilapidated houses adversely impact their surrounding environments, and have generated problems not only in depopulating provincial areas but also in densely populated urban areas.
老朽化で周囲の環境に悪影響を及ぼす空き家の存在は、過疎化が進む地方だけでなく、都心の住宅密集地でも問題化している。

There have been cases in which houses are at risk of collapse or their exterior walls are in danger of toppling, or suspicious people frequently enter and leave such buildings, worsening public safety in the vicinity. A community must not be left to fend for itself if it feels ill at ease concerning local disaster management and crime prevention.
 倒壊や外壁の落下が懸念されたり、不審者の出入りで治安を悪化させたりする例もある。防災や防犯面で地域に不安を与える状態は野放しにできない。

Dealing with unoccupied, abandoned houses has so far been mostly left to local governments. Some municipalities have established their own ordinances to urge owners of unoccupied houses to manage them properly or have them removed. However, some observers have pointed out that measures taken by prefectural or city, town and village governments alone will only have a limited effect.
 空き家対策はこれまで、ほぼ自治体に任されてきた。一部の自治体は独自に条例を作り、管理や撤去を促しているが、県や市町村の対応だけでは限界があるという声も出ていた。

To improve this situation, the LDP plans to authorize governments of cities, towns and villages to enter the premises of unoccupied houses, and enable them to order owners of houses that endanger neighboring areas to repair or remove them.
 こうした事態を改善するために自民党案では、市町村に空き家の敷地内に立ち入る権限を与え、特に危険な家の所有者には修繕や撤去を命令できるようにする。

Nevertheless, it will cost a considerable amount of money to tear down and remove buildings. The central government should refer to a public subsidy system adopted by some local governments.
 とはいえ、撤去には相当の費用がかかる。一部自治体の補助制度なども参考にしたい。

Give rural areas a boost

It also has been pointed out that when an unoccupied house is torn down, thus emptying the lot, the tax burden on the land owner becomes heavier because they are no longer eligible for a reduced fixed asset tax, which is applied to a housing site.
 空き家を壊して更地にすると、住宅用地に適用される固定資産税の軽減措置などが受けられなくなり、税負担が重くなる問題も指摘されている。

The LDP proposal likely will include a reduction in the fixed asset tax for building owners who tear down and remove these structures at their own initiative. It is hoped this would encourage owners of such buildings to take needed actions voluntarily.
 自民党案には、所有者が自ら進んで建物を撤去した場合、固定資産税を軽減する措置が盛り込まれる方向だ。所有者の自発的な対応を促す効果が期待できよう。

In addition to the provision of the special law, it will become important for the government to make efforts to reuse unoccupied houses or plots of land made vacant in favorable locations.
 特措法の整備に加え、立地条件に恵まれた空き家や跡地を再活用する取り組みも重要になる。

It would be a good idea to expand such projects as renovating unoccupied houses into rented houses or rented stores in urban areas, and leasing them at reasonable rates to low-income earners or people who want to start up a business.
 都市部では、空き家を賃貸住宅や店舗に改装し、低所得者や開業希望者に安く貸し出す事業などを拡充するのも一案だ。

We hope that in underpopulated areas, a helping hand can be given to projects designed to reinvigorate the local economy by, for instance, helping people who want to move from urban areas to provincial areas find unoccupied houses.
 過疎地では、地方への移住を希望する人たちに空き家を提供し、地域を活性化する事業に役立てるための工夫も凝らしてほしい。

An increasing number of local governments have created an online “vacant house bank,” through which the public can find information concerning empty houses in their areas and apply to rent them. The central government could do worse than to consider the possibility of expanding this into a nationwide service modeled on the examples already in operation.
 空き家の情報をネット上で公開し、借り手を公募する「空き家バンク」制度を作る自治体も増えている。先行事例を参考に全国規模への拡大を検討してはどうか。

Some real estate agents and security agencies have started proxy services for managing vacant houses. Both the public and private sectors need to think long and hard about how to turn plans for these abandoned buildings into action.
 不動産会社や警備会社が空き家を管理する代行ビジネスを始める例も出てきた。様々な空き家対策を実現するため、官民でさらに知恵を絞る必要がある。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Oct. 14, 2013)
(2013年10月14日01時53分 読売新聞)
by kiyoshimat | 2013-10-17 08:28 | 英字新聞

英字新聞の学習サイト


by kiyoshimat