2016-06-10
Maintenance Fee and Repair Saving Fee that You Have To Pay in Japan
- Advice
When planning to purchase a room in an apartment in Japan, know you are required to pay for both a monthly maintenance fee (管理費) and a monthly repair saving fee (修繕積立金). Because the building management association has a responsibility to ensure a safe and comfortable environment for all residents, it collects these fees to finance the building’s expected maintenance.
The purpose of both maintenance fee and repair saving fee
The purpose of both maintenance fee and repair saving fee is the following:
1. The Maintenance Fee: includes cleaning and inspection fees, a utility fee for the common use area, and personnel costs for building management; the building’s owner association decides the amount collected.
2. Repair Saving Fee: used for building investigation as well as for repairing common use area; amount determined is based on how much it will cost to complete a large repair project that lasts up to thirty years.
The average monthly repair saving fee is approximately 200 Yen per square meter.
The fee’s amount changes depending on the building’s size. For instance, if the building is a large, high-end apartment complex that typically holds more than 300 units, the repair fee can be more expensive at 230 Yen, especially because such large condominiums tend to have a good 24/7 operating security system.
What is the market price for maintenance fee?
Here is the data that The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) released about the average price for maintenance fee by area.
Unfortunately, almost 87% of building maintenance associations charge the less than average price of 200 Yen per square meter which causes a shortage of repair savings funds. This makes it hard to avoid a price increase in the future if you become an owner of an apartment room.
Also, it helps to know how often building management repairs or maintains the building’s quality as well as the details of what they do in order to assess whether the price you are going to pay is worth the quality of their service.
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