If you’re looking to rent an apartment in Japan, most of the time you probably won’t come across this term. Instead, 敷金 (deposit) and 礼金 (key money) would be more common but some apartments require you to pay the 内装代. So what is 内装代?
Let’s look at it from the perspective of 敷金 and it would be easier to understand. 敷金 is the money you pay up front when you rent the apartment so when you leave the apartment, the owner would use the money you paid to clean up whatever mess you made and return the remaining to you. This means the cleaner you leave the apartment, the more money you get back.
内装代 however is the exact opposite. When the previous tenant leaves, the owner renovates the apartment and pays for it first. If you like how the apartment looks and decide to rent it, you would pay the 内装代 which is about 30% of the amount paid by the owner. Since this money is already used by the owner prior to your rental, you do not get anything back when you move out.
So what happens if you accidentally damage something in the apartment when you leave? The owner would renovate it and the next tenant would pay for it via the 内装代. That’s it.
簡単に言うと、敷金は退去する時の掃除代です。残っている部分が大家さんに返金してもらいます。きれいにすればするほど、返金も多くなります。逆に、内装代は、前の入居者が退去する時、大家さんが部屋を新しく作り、先に払う料金です。次の入居者が例の部屋を気になりましたら、その料金の３０％ぐらいを大家さんに払います。入居する前、既に使われた料金なので、退去する時にどれだけきれいにしても、返金は一切もらえません。部屋の掃除代や修理代などを次の入居者に払ってもらいます。それは内装代と言います。
