Housing Leaseback Guidelines in Force (October 1, 2026): Sale and Rental Terms Real Estate Agents Must DiscloseRules to help people use "leaseback", selling a home and living in it, with peace of mind
MLIT has published, as the version effective October 1, 2026 (Reiwa 8), guidelines on how the Building Lots and Buildings Transaction Business Act applies to housing leaseback transactions (selling a home and paying rent to the buyer to keep living there). In addition to the sale terms, rental terms such as rent, contract period, termination and repair costs must be disclosed; knowingly failing to do so conflicts with Article 47, item 1 of the Act.
Key points
- Covered: transactions where the sale and the lease of a home the person lives in are inseparably linked, and the buyer is a real estate agent or the sale is brokered or represented by one
- Background: consultations to consumer centers and similar bodies were 116 in FY2022, 227 in FY2023, 242 in FY2024 and 214 in FY2025. Reported cases include rent so high that total payments exceeded the sale price in a short time, and high penalties claimed on cancellation
- Examples of sale terms to disclose: money exchanged other than the price and its purpose, termination, liquidated damages and penalties, and whether and how a buy-back clause applies. For the lease: rent, contract period and renewal, whether it is a fixed-term lease, termination, who bears repair costs, and the possibility of the agent transferring the property to a third party and its effect
- Knowingly failing to disclose such matters conflicts with Article 47, item 1, and may lead to instructions, suspension of business, license revocation, imprisonment or fines. Even negligent failure may conflict with Article 31, paragraph 1 (good faith)
- Not legal obligations but desirable: explaining how the sale price and rent were calculated, explaining how many months of rent the sale proceeds correspond to, and handing over a document stating the disclosed matters
What to do in practice
- Check that proposals and contracts for leasebacks fully state the disclosure items above (conditions for rent increases, contract period, termination and penalties, buy-back conditions, etc.)
- Compare the sale proceeds with total rent over the period you would live there, including the buy-back terms, and consult a professional before deciding
Leaseback is a way to sell your home, receive the money, and then pay rent to the company that bought it so you can keep living in the same home. But some people later say, "the rent was higher than I thought" or "I was charged a lot of money when I stopped". So rules were put together for real estate companies to explain important things properly.
- 1. Sell the homeYou sell your home and receive the money
- 2. Pay rentYou pay monthly rent to the company that bought it
- 3. Keep living thereYou continue to live in the same home
- 4. What to checkBefore the contract, check the total rent, how long you can stay, money due on ending, and buy-back conditions
Points
- These are national guidelines (a handbook of rules) used from October 1, 2026
- Real estate companies must correctly tell not only the sale terms but also the rent, how long you can live there, and the money due when you stop
- It is also considered good to explain how the total rent compares with the money you got from the sale
What the words mean
- Leaseback
- A system where you sell your home, then pay rent to the company that bought it and keep living in the same home
- Buy-back
- Buying back a home you sold, later on
- Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT): MLIT: Interpretation and application of the Building Lots and Buildings Transaction Business Act for housing leaseback transactions (leaseback guidelines)
This article summarizes and explains materials published by government agencies and is not advice on any individual case. Rules can change, so for actual procedures and decisions always check the latest original materials and consult professionals such as tax accountants or labor and social security attorneys. English, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese versions are translations prepared from the Japanese articles for convenience. If anything differs, the Japanese text and the original source take precedence.