# Housing and property — Japanese laws in English — japanlaw.org

This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/laws/housing. Every law, and how to address a provision: https://japanlaw.org/llms.txt. The same laws as MCP tools (no sign-in): https://japanlaw.org/mcp.

Japanese property law in English: renting land and buildings, real estate agents, property registration, owning a flat in a condominium, and short-term letting.

- Housing and property (住まい・不動産): 5 laws on this topic, each Act (法律) with the orders that go with it — Cabinet Orders (政令) and Ministerial Orders (省令) — listed beneath it, then the laws at home in another topic that this one lists too.
- Each law links to its page; its Markdown twin is the same path under /md. The descriptions are this site's own summaries, not the law's words.
- Only the Japanese as published by the government has legal effect.

## Laws

- [借地借家法 / Act on Land and Building Leases](https://japanlaw.org/en/land-and-building-leases-act): 平成三年法律第九十号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-05-21 · 61 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. Special rules for rights to use land in order to own a building on it — by superficies (地上権) or by lease — and for leases of buildings: how long they last, how they are renewed and what effect they have, with the court procedure for changing the conditions of a land lease. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/land-and-building-leases-act
- [宅地建物取引業法 / Real Estate Brokerage Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/real-estate-brokerage-act): 昭和二十七年法律第百七十六号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-04-01 · 201 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. A licence and rules of conduct for businesses that buy, sell or exchange land for building (宅地) and buildings or act as agent or intermediary in their sale, exchange or lease, so that dealings are fair and buyers and others are protected. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/real-estate-brokerage-act
- [不動産登記法 / Real Property Registration Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/real-property-registration-act): 平成十六年法律第百二十三号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-06-24 · 175 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. How land and buildings, and rights over them such as ownership and mortgages, are recorded in a public register (登記), to protect people's rights and keep property dealings safe and smooth. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/real-property-registration-act
- [建物の区分所有等に関する法律 / Act on Building Unit Ownership](https://japanlaw.org/en/building-unit-ownership-act): 昭和三十七年法律第六十九号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-04-01 · 134 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. How a building split into separately owned units — homes, shops, offices, storerooms and the like — is owned and run: what each owner owns alone and what the owners share, how they decide together, and how they can rebuild, renew, sell or demolish the building. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/building-unit-ownership-act
- [住宅宿泊事業法 / Private Lodging Business Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/private-lodging-business-act): 平成二十九年法律第六十五号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2025-06-01 · 79 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. Lets a person take paying guests into a home for up to 180 days a year on a notification to the prefectural governor, and sets up registration for the businesses that manage those homes or book guests into them. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/private-lodging-business-act

## Other topics

- [Work and employment (労働)](https://japanlaw.org/en/laws/work): Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/laws/work
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