The land ministry plans to resume a subsidy program to help families with small children and young married couples build energy-efficient houses amid rising real estate prices, sources said.
The ministry aims to incorporate the program in the government's upcoming economic package and seek funds under a supplementary budget bill for fiscal 2023, which ends next March. The government and the ruling parties will discuss details including the program's budgetary amount.
The subsidy program provides ¥1 million to households with a child under 18 years old or a married couple in which either partner is under 39 years old, if they build a new house that meets the criteria to be a Net Zero Energy House (ZEH).
Also under the program, the ministry gives up to ¥450,000 in subsidies to help families with small children and young couples renovate existing houses to improve their energy-saving performance. Other households are also eligible to receive ¥300,000.
The ministry stopped accepting applications for the program at the end of September as the budget ran out, but now it sees a need to resume the program not only to tackle soaring housing prices, but also from the perspective of the country's low birthrate and efforts to decarbonize.