The last big city with affordable housing is not where you think

There are more apartments to rent in Tokyo than there are prospective tenants to fill them.

In stark contrast to Australia ’s big cities and those of most other developed countries, rental prices have hardly budged since Japan 's property bubble burst in the 1990s .

The country's ageing population, planning rules which favour developers, and relatively low inflation mean Tokyo is a bastian of affordable housing.

Australian policymakers struggle to come up with a viable solution for housing affordability.

Tokyo has little subsidised housing and there are few homeless.

Renters need guarantors’ which typically used to be their parents, but are now more likely to be special companies set up to provide what is effectively insurance for landlords.