Do You Qualify for UR? Income & Savings Requirements, Explained in English

UR's headline appeal is that it removes the hardest parts of renting in Japan: no guarantor, no key money, no agent fee, and no credit check.What it keeps is a single income test — and there are three different ways to pass it. At least one works for almost everyone, including freelancers, the self-employed, and people who've just arrived.

Here are the exact thresholds and all three routes.

Route 1: The income test (most common)

UR looks at your average monthly income— that's your total annual income (including bonuses) divided by 12, on a pre-tax basis. The threshold depends on the rent and your household size:

The key thing foreigners often get wrong: above ~¥62,500 rent, it's a fixed figure, not "4× the rent." Most Tokyo UR units rent for ¥80,000–¥150,000, so the bar is ¥250,000/month for a single person (≈ ¥3M/year) or ¥330,000 for a household — regardless of whether the rent is ¥90k or ¥140k.

And yes — read literally, that means a single person on ¥250,000/month qualifies even for a unit renting near ¥190,000. That looks too lenient, and in one sense it is: UR sets a minimum income floor, not a sensible rent-to-income ratio. It's public housing, so the bar is deliberately low and UR leans on the savings and prepayment routes below rather than policing how much of your income goes to rent. (In practice, almost nobody single rents at the very top of that band.)

Proof: company employees show a 源泉徴収票 (withholding slip) or recent pay slips. Self-employed show 確定申告書 (tax returns), typically 1–2 years.

Route 2: The savings route (no income proof needed)

If your income doesn't clear the bar — or you can't easily document it because you're new to Japan — you can qualify on savings alone. The threshold is 100× the monthly rent held in your name.

For a ¥100,000/month unit that's ¥10,000,000 in the bank. You prove it with a bank balance certificate or passbook copy issued within the last month. This route is genuinely useful for people with savings but an irregular or hard-to-document income.

Route 3: Lump-sum prepayment (the foreigner's secret weapon)

This is the most underrated path for new arrivals. You can prepay 1 to 10 years of rent up front, and the income test is waived entirely. There's often a small rent discount for prepaying, too.

Why it matters for foreigners: it removes the income paper trail completely. If you've just moved, don't yet have a Japanese tax record, or work remotely for an overseas employer, prepaying a year sidesteps the whole documentation problem.

And your money isn't locked in: if you move out before the prepaid period ends, UR refunds the unused portion of your rent (and common fees), with no penalty. The contract is technically "non-cancellable except for unavoidable circumstances," but in practice UR returns the unused balance on early move-out. Confirm the details at the UR counter.

What you still need (residence status)

Beyond money, UR requires a valid residence card and a status of residence that allows a lease of reasonable length. Most working, student, spouse, and permanent residence statuses are fine. Very short-term statuses can be a problem. We cover the eligibility detail in the full foreigner guide.

The real bottleneck isn't qualifying

Here's the thing most guides bury: if you clear one of the three routes above, your UR application will almost certainly be approved. There's no scoring, no guarantor company deciding your fate. The actual hard part is getting a unit before someone else does — popular buildings open up rarely and fill within hours.

Figures are based on UR's published eligibility rules and can vary by property and over time. Confirm current thresholds and documents on the official UR site before applying.