Fullrino Survey: Nearly 60% of Vacant Home Owners Want to Sell, but Over 20% Expect They Will Have to Leave Properties Idle

Fullrino Inc., operator of the renovation-focused portal “Fullrino!” and headquartered in Hyogo Prefecture under CEO Takatomo Kaihara, conducted a survey of 1,000 men and women in their 20s to 60s and older who own or will inherit family homes or vacant houses, asking about their views on utilization and disposal. The results revealed a more serious-than-expected reality: many people are unable to take action on vacant homes. While 59.5% said their ideal outcome was to sell, 23.1% said that in reality they would have no choice but to leave the property idle. Another 20.0% had never discussed the property’s future with their family. The survey identifies three structural gaps obstructing solutions to vacant-home issues: the gap between ideal and reality, between risk awareness and knowledge, and between owners and their families. Key findings include: 59.5% ideally want to sell, but 23.1% realistically expect they will have to leave the property idle. A total of 51.4% reported a mismatch between ideal and reality. Some 59.0% said they knew nothing about Japan’s “specified vacant house” system, under which fixed asset tax burdens can effectively rise by up to six times; only 3.6% knew the system in detail. Regarding family dialogue, 20.0% had spent zero hours discussing the future of the property, and 52.2% had spent less than one hour or none at all. Meanwhile, 79.2% had never compared rebuilding and renovation, and decision criteria were heavily concentrated on budget, cited by 74.2%. The top reason for being unable to proceed with utilization or disposal was “not knowing where to start,” at 51.5%, exceeding cost concerns at 37.8%. Japan’s number of vacant homes has surpassed 9 million and continues to reach record highs, according to the Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Although vacant homes are widely recognized as a social issue, the actual concerns of people who own or inherit family homes and vacant houses are not well understood. Fullrino’s editorial team conducted this survey to quantify the reasons for inaction that it regularly hears in renovation consultations. The first major finding is the gap between ideal and reality. When asked about their ideal future outcome, 59.5% chose selling. When asked about the outcome they realistically expect, however, selling fell to 42.5%, while “having no choice but to leave it idle” accounted for 23.1%. A total of 51.4% faced a mismatch between ideal and reality. Among the 595 respondents who ideally wanted to sell, 150 people, or 25.2%, expected that in reality they would leave the property idle. Considering Japan’s more than 9 million vacant homes, there may be millions of people in the market who sense that they want to sell but cannot. The second finding is the gap between risk awareness and knowledge. If an inadequately managed vacant home is designated by authorities as a “specified vacant house,” preferential residential land treatment for fixed asset tax can be removed, potentially increasing the effective tax burden by up to six times. Yet 59.0% of respondents said they knew nothing about the system. Even among owners living within 30 minutes of the property, 66.7% were unaware of it, showing that information is not reaching owners regardless of distance. The third finding is the gap between owners and their families. When asked how much total time they had spent discussing the property’s future with family members or co-owners, 20.0% answered zero hours, meaning they had never discussed it. Including those who spent less than one hour, 52.2% had effectively had no meaningful dialogue. Regarding the intentions of owners or co-owners, 34.4% said they had not thought about it, while 20.8% said they did not know, indicating that many have not even created an opportunity for discussion. Fourth, 79.2% had no experience comparing rebuilding and renovation. Only 20.8% had compared the two options. In a question about decision criteria, budget was cited by 74.2%, suggesting not necessarily that people wanted to decide by budget, but that they lacked other comparison points and therefore had no choice but to decide by budget. The survey’s main insight is that the core reason people cannot act on vacant homes is not simply that they are unable to move, but that they are unable to compare options. Generational analysis showed that views of family homes reverse between people in their 20s and those in their 30s and older. Among respondents in their 20s, 49.6% saw the property as an asset, far above the 25.2% who saw it as a liability. In contrast, among people in their 30s, 38.6% saw it as an asset and 43.8% as a liability; among those in their 40s, 37.0% saw it as an asset and 47.9% as a liability. As parents age and inheritance becomes more realistic, perceptions may shift from “promising asset” to “heavy burden.” The data underscores the importance of designing dialogue across generations. Fullrino’s editorial team concludes that all three structural gaps revealed by the survey stem from information asymmetry. Many owners of family homes and vacant houses are caught in a triple bind: unable to sell, unable to demolish, and unable to discuss the issue. As a result, they are drifting toward the worst option: abandonment. Owners are seeking specific and comparable information: 51.5% do not know where to start, 20.5% want to compare contractors, and 18.5% want to know successful examples. However, today’s information environment is fragmented among sellers, demolition companies, builders, and renovation firms, leaving too few neutral channels for cross-comparison. Fullrino says solving vacant-home issues requires society to create places where owners can compare options and find choices suited to their own cases. The company will continue providing neutral information that allows users to compare not only renovation, but also sale, rental, demolition, rebuilding, and other utilization options. The full survey data, free-text responses, and detailed explanations of five utilization options are available in a feature article on Fullrino MAGAZINE. Survey overview: the survey was titled “Survey on the True Feelings of People Struggling with Family Homes and Vacant Houses.” It was conducted by Fullrino Inc. among men and women in their 20s to 60s and older who own or will inherit family homes or vacant houses. The number of valid responses was 1,000. The survey was conducted in April 2026 through a self-administered online questionnaire via a crowdsourcing platform, with 24 questions in total. When citing the survey data, Fullrino asks users to state the source as “Survey by Fullrino Inc., conducted in April 2026, n=1,000.” The company welcomes citations by media organizations, municipalities, research institutions, and educational institutions. Because the survey was a self-administered online survey via a crowdsourcing platform, respondents with more severe issues and older age groups may be relatively underrepresented, which should be considered when citing or interpreting the data. Fullrino Inc. is located at KiP, 56 Naniwamachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture. It is led by Takatomo Kaihara and was established on November 1, 2023. The company operates the renovation-specialized portal “Fullrino!” Fullrino! is a platform that connects people considering renovation with reliable construction companies. It supports users in creating their ideal homes by presenting construction examples and expert knowledge in an accessible way. Users can search construction companies and builders nationwide, and the platform features many renovation case studies. Covering a wide range of renovations including condominiums and detached houses, it provides an environment where even beginners can consult with confidence through expert articles and practical know-how.