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Affordable housing for single mother in need
Introduction

The project renovates abandoned or unoccupied houses to create affordable homes for single mothers. It does this by working with property owners, real estate agents and the government to acquirethe empty private houses to renovate and rent out.

Objective of the practice

Single mothers and their children suffer stigma and are often refused tenancies on the assumption of being financially unreliable. The project aims to address the problems single mothers face by making use of ‘akiya’ within cities, providing them access to affordable homes and living support. Some 14% of Japanese homes, around 9 million dwellings, are sitting vacant. This is expected to reach 30% in 2030 as the country's population continues to decline. Many ‘akiya’ have been inherited by people who have no use for them and yet are unable to sell, because of a shortage of interested buyers. Given the financial constraints in dismantling thousands of ‘akiya’, the government has begun reusing them as affordable rental housing for low-income individuals and families. However, the process has been slow. Only a few ‘akiya’ owners gave permission for the government to re-use their houses. Additionally, any buildings suitable for affordable housing need to meet the government’s earthquake resistance standard regulations. The buildings which meet these standards are usually in high demand, can be rented on a commercial basis, and therefore are not available.

Japan has a culture that makes it difficult for women to work after having children and that makes life exceptionally harder for single mothers. Moreover, nearly 80% of divorces in Japan result in full custody for the mother and there is no system to enforce child support payments. Many single mothers are often unable to work or can only do so minimally. In addition, a culture of shame means they are looked down upon which has led many single mothers to hide their situation, even from friends and family. Such prejudices have an adverse impact on the country’s children. 16%of children ) live below the poverty line, increasing to 55% among single-parent families. A large proportion of these children are from households of single mothers.

Apartment owners often refuse single mothers as tenants on the assumption that they are not financially reliable. When they do find a place to live within a reasonable commuting distance, they often end up paying half of their income for rent and they are simply unable to support themselves and their children. This is particularly the case in Tokyo and other big cities in Japan where rent is very high. This difficult context highlights the importance of Little Ones’ project which is providing affordable housing and living support for single mothers and their children by reusing empty homes.

Key stakeholders and partnerships

Beneficiaries are Single mothers in Japan. Stakeholders are local government, apartment owners, property companies, and
The Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport.

Implementation of the Project/Activity

Littleones NPO was assigned “Housing support organization” by Tokyo Metropolitan government and evaluated a good practice for using abandoned housing for supporting single mother by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Because of those evaluation, it is much easier to do work with local government and to negotiate with property owners and real estate agents.

Results/Outputs/Impacts

Since 2013, Little Ones has housed more than 200 single mothers using this approach, turning problematic abandoned houses into much-needed homes for a vulnerable group of women and children.

Enabling factors and constraints

Our organization “Little Ones” (a NPO – non-profit organization) has been working hard to educate property owners and real estate agents to clear up popular misconception about single mothers. We also have been negotiating with property owners and real estate agents to provide single mothers better deals and place to live. We have been renovating unoccupied/abandoned houses in the urban city like Tokyo and turning them into affordable housing. We are fully committed to help single mothers and their family searching for a place to live to sustain a stable healthy life. The government has been welcoming this type of project since it serves the public interest as it supports the affordable housing of the single mother and her family, it makes good use of private housing, and it becomes measures for unoccupied/abandoned houses which are becoming a serious social issue in a big city. We also have suggested that the government create a framework for rent assistance. With these types of our support single mothers are now able to live in affordable housing and receive much needed support and care.It is the first time in Japan to provide affordable housing for single mothers and their families by making use of unoccupied/ abandoned houses in the urban city. This project provide a “win-win” scenario since the property owner of an unoccupied or vacant house are required to pay the property tax (kotei-shi-zan) annually and they are able to off set by the rent as well as contribute to the society to meet this need. We, at “Little Ones” have helped making a big step of connecting the property owners, real estate agents and the government to achieve a purpose to provide affordable housings for single mothers.

Sustainability and replicability

Since the affordable housing utilizing unoccupied/abandoned houses in the urban city has been now offered, we can move on to develop similar projects in other cities. For single mothers and their children, this project will help single mothers to reduce stress of finding affordable houses and become financially more independent. An increasing number of local governments have started to offer more support to single mothers who need affordable housing.

Conclusions

Since the affordable housing utilizing unoccupied/abandoned houses in the urban city has been now offered, we can move on to develop similar projects in other cities. For single mothers and their children, this project will help single mothers to reduce stress of finding affordable houses and become financially more independent. An increasing number of local governments have started to offer more support to single mothers who need affordable housing.In all over the world, single mother have difficulties to find a safe and affordable housing. Littleone s NPO’s way is also the good practice. the good practices should be shared all over the world and a supporting origination for single mother around the world can use them.

Other sources of information

Our project got a winner of World habitat award 2018 and received the award at UN habitat.
https://www.world-habitat.org/world-habitat-awards/

From news paper
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201812130072.html
https://japantoday.com/category/national/Charity-wins-award-for-turning-empty-houses-into-homes-for-single-moms

Goal 1
1.1 - By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day
1.2 - By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions
1.3 - Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable
1.4 - By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance
1.5 - By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters
1.a - Ensure significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources, including through enhanced development cooperation, in order to provide adequate and predictable means for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, to implement programmes and policies to end poverty in all its dimensions
1.b - Create sound policy frameworks at the national, regional and international levels, based on pro-poor and gender-sensitive development strategies, to support accelerated investment in poverty eradication actions
Goal 4
4.1 - By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes
4.2 - By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education
4.3 - By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university
4.4 - By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship
Goal 5
5.1 - End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere
Goal 10
10.2 - By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status
Goal 11
11.1 - By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums
11.2 - By 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons
11.3 - By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries
11.7 - By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities
Goal 16
16.2 - End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children
Goal 17
17.14 - Enhance policy coherence for sustainable development
17.15 - Respect each country’s policy space and leadership to establish and implement policies for poverty eradication and sustainable development

Multi-stakeholder partnerships
17.16 - Enhance the global partnership for sustainable development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the sustainable development goals in all countries, in particular developing countries
Basic information
Start: 01 January, 2012
Completion: 01 January, 2025
Ongoing? yes
Region
Asia and Pacific
Countries
Geographical Coverage
Entity
Little Ones NPO
Type:
Contact information
hana haruna, press, info@npolittleones.com,
Photos
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