PROPERTY Short-term rental
ALT STAY Playing the long game in short-stay property
Involved in a wide range of real estate projects, including development, sales, leasing, hotels and self-storage, Housing Japan expanded in many areas before entering the short-term rental marketplace. It’s now launching Alt Stay, a portfolio of apartments that aims to cater for young professionals using Tokyo as a temporary base. The initiative may be new, but it’s been long in development. “When Airbnb started here”, says Housing Japan Co-founder Joe Rigby, “there was a lot of interest at Housing Japan, but the reality was that its business model at launch was never legal. If you’re running a business, you have to obey the rules and regulations. So, we said, ‘well, what can we do that looks like Airbnb, but that’s legal?’ That’s how we evolved our product to where it is now.
Kanemitsu Takahashi, who specialises in the short-stay part of Housing Japan’s business, says the Alt Stay portfolio differs from the firm’s management of properties for individual owners. “Needs for short-term rental apartments from both corporate and individuals have become quite high compared to several years ago. Corporate expats used to rent serviced apartments or long-term rental apartments, but there are now more young expats coming to Tokyo for short-term project work who don’t need either luxury serviced apartments or long-term apartments. “What we are providing for these customers is the right-size, quality apartment for a reasonable price. Because of the options for remote working in various fields, we have a very mixed customer base of traders, consultants, YouTubers, designers and creative directors. We’ve even had online gaming customers rent our apartments, working while exploring a foreign country.”
“As well as managing properties for customers who may be operating short-term lets, we’ve been developing a portfolio of our own, which we are letting on a daily basis with a hotel licence, and on a longer stay basis within a minpaku- Housing Japan’s latest offering is akin to a serviced apartment style legal framework.”
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