The problem of rental properties for the elderly has been widespread for many years, but as the predicted aging of Japanese society has progressed apace, the problem has become a full-blown crisis. Thirty percent of the population is now 65 or older, and nothing has really been done to guarantee that people in this cohort can rent apartments if they need to.

That’s because landlords don’t want tenants who they think are more likely to die on them. Besides the possibility of losing a paying tenant, there is the more serious problem of tenants who die alone without anyone to handle their remains or possessions. A demographic that has been studied excessively by the media lately is single-person households, many of which are occupied by elderly people with no close ties to any family. 

The problem was revisited by NHK recently on its in-depth news report Closeup Gendai. The renter that NHK interviews is 65. He currently lives by himself in a building that has no elevator or air conditioning. Having developed a bad knee, he finds it increasingly difficult to go up and down the stairs, and is concerned about the hotter summers in Japan, so he’s looking for a new apartment. He still works, but on a contract basis for an IT company, meaning it isn’t guaranteed employment. He has no problem covering his rent, but there are no relatives on whom he can rely in the event of an emergency. He says that almost all the ads he’s seen online say right up front that they don’t rent to older people, and those who do insist that a relative be his guarantor, so for the time being, at least, he has to stay where he is.

NHK then talks to a landlord, who tells the reporter frankly that he is “afraid” to rent to older people “unless there is a strong guarantee.” Elderly applicants must have a financially solvent relative as their guarantor—no friends or even employers. The reason is obvious. In addition to being there if the resident falls behind on their rent, the relative will automatically have a legal responsibility to remove the resident’s remains and possessions if they die while in the rental unit. 

The landlord talks about a 70-year-old female tenant of his who died in July of 2025. She lived alone and her body was not discovered for an entire month. Someone she knew tried to get in touch with her and couldn’t, and so the landlord called the fire department, which forced the door open. They found the woman’s body, which had already started to decay and had leaked bodily fluids all over the floor. The corpse of her dog was also in the apartment. “It was the first time this happened to me,” the landlord said.

The regular cleaning fee for removing and disposing of the woman’s things cost ¥248,000. Then there was a special cleaning fee to get rid of the stains and odors that cost another ¥250,000. Because of the stains and other damage, the apartment had to be renovated, and that cost ¥1 million. On top of that, he couldn’t rent out the apartment for almost a year and so lost more than ¥400,000 in rent. Since the woman had no relative, the landlord had to shoulder all these expenses himself. “That’s why I am imposing more conditions on future tenants,” he said, and that includes younger applicants. 

NHK then talked to a major realtor who manages 8,000 rental units in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Over the last 3 years, 135 tenants have died while occupying their apartments: 21 people in their 80s, 37 in their 70s, 43 in their 60s, and 25 in their 50s. One out of four of the deceased was of working age. 

The realtor offers a specialized “check-in” system to all its tenants as an option. The system monitors the electricity use within the apartment and contacts a designated person when an irregularity in electrical usage is recorded. The contact then gets in touch with the tenant immediately. The company is thinking of making the system mandatory for tenants above a certain age. 

An expert tells NHK that despite the long lead time that the authorities have had to prepare for an aging society, they are not ready for the huge number of elderly living alone in rental properties. The housing policy as its set up is designed for the traditional life trajectory: live with parents until a certain age, move out on one’s own and get a job, marry and have a family, buy a house, retire and live with/be taken care of by children/family. To many people no longer fit that pattern. 

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