Tokyo, September 20, 2018 - Rakuten LIFULL STAY, Inc., the Rakuten Group’s vacation rental service provider, and SOHGO SECURITY SERVICES CO.,LTD. (ALSOK) today announced that the two companies have reached an agreement to form a business collaboration in the vacation rental industry.
Based on the agreement, Rakuten LIFULL STAY and ALSOK will jointly develop vacant home-usage services with the aim of promoting the utilization of unused assets such as unoccupied homes and holiday villas as vacation rental properties. Running properties such as unoccupied homes or holiday villas as vacation rentals requires building modifications to install disaster and crime prevention equipment and arrangements for emergency rapid-response to be carried out, which along with the management of the property, places a significant burden on property owners. With ALSOK’s expertise in disaster and crime prevention and Rakuten LIFULL STAY’s vacation rental platform and operational support service, the two companies believe they can develop a highly cost-efficient service for property owners and vacation rental operators.
Additionally, starting today Rakuten LIFULL STAY will begin selling ALSOK’s disaster and crime prevention equipment for vacation rentals at a special introductory price through its website*1. The main products to be sold include ALSOK disaster monitoring equipment and legally-required equipment. Vacation rental properties are designated as property subject to fire prevention measures according to Japan's Fire Service Act. Owners of such properties are required to install fire alarm systems and other devices by law, and must also meet other requirements, such as providing evacuation instructions for guests in the event of a fire. In addition to the sale of equipment, the site offers a wide range of services to support property owners, including the installation of automatic fire alarms, the submission of notifications to the fire department, and in the event of a fire, will dispatch security officers to the scene, report to the fire department and carry out initial firefighting*2.
In recent years, Japan's declining population, low share of distribution of existing homes and other demographic factors have led to a rise in the number of vacant homes*3. The danger of properties collapsing due to structural deterioration and growing costs for local governments to dismantle properties where the property manager is unknown are becoming major social issues. Rakuten LIFULL STAY and ALSOK believe that in order to address these issues, it is necessary to not only provide disaster and crime prevention equipment, but also improve the efficiency and reduce the financial burden placed on operation management, which led to the two companies forming the business collaboration.
Both companies will also work on developing services that enable safe and reliable use of vacation homes.
1. For details please visit: https://vacation-stay.jp/contents/alsok/
2. First response firefighting may not be possible depending on the circumstances surrounding the fire.
3. According to the 2013 Housing and Land Survey conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications there were approximately 8.2 million vacant homes in all of Japan.
SOHGO SECURITY SERVICES CO., LTD. (ALSOK)
Office location: 1-6-6 Motoakasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Yukiyasu Aoyama, President and Representative Director
Details of business: Security services, general facility management, fire protection services, care services, etc.
Date of establishment: July 1965
Website: https://www.alsok.co.jp/
Rakuten LIFULL STAY, Inc.
Office location: Yurakucho Building 3F, 1-10-1 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Representative Director Munekatsu Ota
Details of business: Providing services related to the vacation rental platform, etc.
Date of establishment: March 2017
Website: https://www.rakuten-lifull-stay.co.jp/