Understanding Home Subsidies

[vapid]

I would like to crowdsource some knowledge about home building and the possible subsidies for various parts of a home or even specific areas of the country. Below is what my wife and I learned during our discussions, but we would really love other people's feedback and insight. We are certain there are other subsidy systems or incentives we do not know about.

*disclaimer* most of this information comes from Niigata, since originally my wife and I were looking to buy land and build there.

General or Nationwide Subsidy

Flat35S is a national loan with specific requirements related to energy-efficient design or old-age livability. But in addition to that, there are directed subsidies for homes that meet certain requirements. This was one builder we talked with that had a good grasp in Niigata:
https://kouei-n.co.jp/money/

They have possible subsidies for long-term housing, low carbon housing, and ZEH housing. They said these are individual applications, so it could b possible to receive all 3 - or approx 4.2M JPY in subsidy. I was also told there is a ZEH+ subsidy, but those are more demonstration projects and have a very limited capacity. One architect we spoke with says that the applications fill up after about 1 sec after their release (sounds similar to folks who try to buy graphic cards or PS5 online her in Japan).

Prefectural or City Subsidy

I don't have as good details here, but the home builder in Niigata did say that there were other local subsidies. He mentioned that adding a wood-fire stove could be subsidized and you can also receive free wood pellets (I am guessing for a wood pellet stove). And at the city office we learned from the 'immigration' section that families from metropolitan areas (ie Tokyo) would be eligible for 1M JPY per person to move. This had some connection to building a new house or renovating a used property.

Subsidy Issues

By far the biggest hurdles was finding architects, builders, or construction forms who were familiar with the paperwork. This is because most (all?) the paperwork requires their hanko or the architect needs to be the one to complete the forms and submit them for approval at the city office.

Other Incentives

I read the FB group about building or renovating in Japan and there have been a couple discussions in the past about Solar Panels being subsidized by local governments. There also was a comment about Solar Water Heaters being subsidized by local governments.

Can any other home owners, builders, or folks with subsidy knowledge share their information?

[vapid]

I found the solar water heater subsidy in my bookmarks.
https://www.sunjunior.co.jp/2021_thermal-2/

But I am hopeful others have more options.

For anyone interested, you can use this kanji to search 太陽熱温水器補助金

[vapid]

Another subsidy I came across are the green points offered by MLIT
https://greenpt.mlit.go.jp/new-house/#h ... nce--house

If you build a high-performance home (ie ZEH) and are moving from Tokyo to another non-urban area, then you can potentially receive 1 million points. The rules are a bit fuzzy to me, but it seems you can use those points to further construction or use them for goods (like furniture, etc). I don't know if 1 million points = 1 million yen though.

[vapid]

This seems more general, but it is a subsidy portal website that you can search by location.
https://hojyokin-portal.jp/subsidies/li ... &keywords=

[vapid]

Alright, last post for the moment, but here is handy list of tax and subsidy information for new, remodel, or energy improvement.
https://www.sumai-fun.com/money/

[taneandy]

This is for a completely different area of the country (Fukuoka), but these are the subsidies/tax breaks that we received.
(1) Housing loan tax deduction (max. of 400,000 per year for 10 years)
(2) Flat 35 interest rate reduction (0.25% reduction for 10 years for meeting certain building standards (referred to as flat 35S))
(3) First three years of property tax refunded as shopping vouchers
(4) 100,000 yen for installing solar panels (after construction)

(3) and (4) are just for the city we live in, but a lot of cities will have similar schemes. The ones for solar panels etc. tend to change quite regularly.

[captainspoke]

Not sure how widespread it is, but I've heard that by using 'local wood' you can get subsidy/cash back.

[vapid]

Not sure how widespread it is, but I've heard that by using 'local wood' you can get subsidy/cash back.

Do you know if this is for building purposes or for use in a wood stove?

I found the Niigata Prefecture government was promoting local source wood for CLT production as an example, but when I contacted them they said it was for Business only, not for residential:
https://www.pref.niigata.lg.jp/sec/rins ... 84685.html

[captainspoke]

I had not heard of it for stoves, thought it was for building materials. Tho this could easily vary by prefecture.

Personally, I would not choose a wood stove (indoor air quality).

[vapid]

There was a thread on reddit today about make a home more green, but one of the posts was about solar panel + battery combinations. In Japan there appear to be solar loans to consider.
https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comm ... lifrstyle/