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Tokyo / Tribune News Service
Japan’s Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry has decided on a plan to relax the floor area ratio of buildings by 1.5 times, or up to an additional 300 percent, depending on respective conditions. The move is so that hotels can be rebuilt as bigger hotels on the same land area, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
The ministry, which had been considering easing the regulation to address the shortage of accommodation facilities, will inform local governments of the change. After this, local governments will review their plans for regional development within about six months.
Construction work for hotels subject to the new system will start as early as this fiscal year. The new standards are expected to substantially increase accommodation capacity before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
The floor area ratio of buildings is restricted because structures that are too large can block out sunlight, impair scenery or exacerbate congestion on neighbouring roads. If regulations are eased, it will
become possible to construct
hotels with more floors.
In regions where the maximum floor area ratio for a hotel is currently 400 percent of the land area on which it stands, the limit will be increased by 1.5 times, to 600 percent of the land area. This is for buildings whose entire structure will be used as a hotel.
For buildings in which half of all floors will be used as hotel space, the maximum ratio will be increased to up to 500 percent of the land area — the current 200 percent limit for the hotel section plus an additional 300 percent. This is also 1.5 times the current limit.
The planned system will restrict the 1.5-fold increase of the ratio from exceeding 300 percent. For example, the new ratio must not surpass 1,300 per cent in regions where the current ceiling is 1,000 per cent. The 1.5-fold figures were decided based on a past loosening of housing regulations that led to the construction of high-rise apartment buildings.
For hotels constructed as part of large-scale redevelopment projects in major cities, the relaxed ratio will be added to a specially increased ratio that is permitted under the current system for buildings that include public facilities or green space.
Based on the relaxed regulations, local governments will decide on their regional floor area ratios under the City Planning Law. The governments of major cities are eyeing further increases that exceed those suggested by the ministry to allow larger hotels to be built. Municipalities that have no need for large hotels will not change their city planning ordinances.
Through hotel construction, the ministry intends to encourage redevelopment projects in cities across the country. Local governments also want to attract more visitors to Japan by inviting the construction of quality hotels with large numbers of guestrooms with more floor space.
The number of visitors to Japan hit a record high of 19.73 million in 2015, and the sharp increase boosted occupancy rates in hotels and Japanese-style inns to over 80 per cent in major cities. This was observed not only in the three largest metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, but also in regional cities.
The government has set a goal of increasing the number of visitors to the country to 40 million by 2020. With this comes an urgent need to solve the accommodation shortage.
Floor area ratio
The ratio of the total floor area of a building to the area of land on which it stands. If an eight-story building in which each floor has an area of 100 square metres is constructed on a site of 200 square metres, its floor area ratio will be 400 per cent and the total area of the floors 800 square metres. Each municipality has determined its ratio independently based on the City Planning Law and other rules.