I see what you mean about the potential for abuse - maybe Big Money would buy all the houses and run small businesses from them? But regulations or taxes could be used to dissuade them. Theoretically, anyways.
I wondered if Japan does anything along those lines to avoid the problems you mentioned, but google ain't what it used to be and I wasn't able to find specifics.
This isn't actually possible because owning a lot of houses is not a good business. That's why almost all landlords are small-time and not corporate. Houses are depreciating assets, so if you own more of them it's just more chances you'll have to pay for a roof replacement.
In particular in Japan, houses are worth less than nothing and you may have to pay to demolish yours if you sell it! (Less true than it used to be because construction quality has gotten a lot better.)
> owning a lot of houses is not a good business
Office buildings are generally larger, and the tenants are more professional and more likely to pay for maintenance themselves.
.. which sit on top of the ultimate appreciating asset: land.
> That's why almost all landlords are small-time and not corporate.
https://wustllawreview.org/2023/12/27/corporate-consolidatio...
"Ownership of the nation’s rental housing stock is in transition. The approximately twenty million rental properties in the United States, and fifty million rental units within those properties, have been steadily shifting from individual to corporate hands".
Rent is profitable and the housing shortage is difficult to solve.
> Rent is profitable and the housing shortage is difficult to solve.
If a home is being rented out it's not contributing to the housing shortage though.
That said I have to disagree that the housing shortage is difficult to solve, at least in a technical sense. It's due almost entirely to poor urban planning and infrastructure management. The problem is entirely political.
Then again, political issues can be some of the most difficult to make progress on so perhaps I agree after all.
The basics of Japan's Land use rules in english (only 8 pages; mostly tables/pictures and very straightforward): https://www.mlit.go.jp/common/001050453.pdf
- In the "Control of Building Use by Land Use Zones" you can see how even the most exclusive of zoning enables "Houses with other small scale function", Clinics, Schools or stores with very small footprints.
- Structures are restricted by the shape, shadow, and floor area.
- No mention of "single-family" housing.
A map (of Tokyo) overlaying the gradient of zoning from least to most permissive. You can see how the up-zoning follows the major roads: https://tokyochizu.github.io/zoning.html
https://catalog.data.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/dataset/t000008d00000...
It's a quarto site so if you navigate to the repository of the github page you can see the python code used to generate the map/choropleth.
I would imagine that a great deal of Tokyo's megalopolis fits nicely in the medium impact zone, allowing housing, small scale manufacturing and commerce to mingle in an organic way.
It's the small, local guy who with low margins who is not going to thrive in an environment where it's very difficult to get past all the hurdles to even start up.
> They have restaurants across the world, including in very tricky places like Venice, Italy.
(Btw, I like US McDonalds better than Japan's, but maybe I'm the only one that thinks this.)
This is a semi controversial opinion so, it’s interesting you feel the same way!
It is a somewhat hot topic in Australia, where we've always called it Maccas, but somehow Maccies has entered the lexicon here too.
> Maccies is better here as a rule.
Also, US has a mango pineapple smoothie that's really good. I refuse to look up how much sugar is in it.