The Ministry of the Interior late last month released its report on homes that consumed low amounts of electricity in the second half of last year, offering a glimpse of the latest data on “vacant houses” — homes using less than 60 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month. The report showed that Taiwan had 914,196 vacant houses, or a vacancy rate of 9.79 percent, up from 9.32 percent in the first half of last year and the highest since 2008, when it was 9.81 percent. Of the nation’s 22 administrative areas, Lienchiang County (Matsu) had the highest vacancy rate at 17.4 percent, with 583 vacant houses, while New Taipei City had the most vacant homes, at about 128,361 units, or a vacancy rate of 7.5 percent, which is much lower than the national average.
The report found that 31 towns and villages had a vacancy rate exceeding 20 percent, 11 more than six months earlier. Almost all of them were in rural areas, such as New Taipei City’s Wanli (萬里), Pingsi (平溪) and Shuangsi (雙溪) districts; Kaohsiung’s Namasiya (那瑪夏), Jiasian (甲仙) and Liouguei (六龜) districts; Pingtung County’s Wutai Township (霧臺); Hsinchu County’s Wufong Township (五峰); Penghu County’s Baisha Township (白沙); and Taitung County’s Beinan Township (卑南).
That reflects a phenomenon in some areas in which an aging population and lack of job opportunities is pushing younger people to move to cities. That results in long-term low birthrates or even zero birthrates in some areas, forcing the closure of elementary schools. In the previous academic year, 18 elementary schools across Taiwan closed, most of them in small towns and villages, government data showed. Once older residents pass away, the size of the population in those areas shrinks, while the number of empty houses increases.
Last month was the 19th consecutive month of declining population in Taiwan, putting the nation on the brink of becoming a “super-aged society.” The number of people aged 65 or older was 4,583,678 as of last month, or 19.64 percent of the nation’s population, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. That figure is expected to exceed 20 percent by the end of this year — the threshold for being considered a super-aged society — and 30 percent by 2030.
In small towns, a steady increase in the number of empty houses has raised concerns about safety, declining property values, inconveniences in transportation and seeking medical care, and difficulties in repairing dilapidated houses and fixing damage from typhoons and earthquakes. Moreover, it has the potential to turn neighborhoods into ghost towns, as fewer descendants of the owners of empty houses — who live in cities and have no use for them — want to clean up or repair family homes, perceiving them as a burden rather than an asset.
As the government often invests more funds and resources in more populated areas, paying less attention to the needs and development of smaller areas, the vacant house phenomenon is likely to grow if left unaddressed. There is no simple, reasonable solution. Should the houses be preserved and rebuilt, or demolished to make way for new developments? Towns and villages can only move forward if local communities and authorities are on the same page about residents’ lives, economic well-being and safety.
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