The government is considering reviving the so-called housing “eco-point” program in order to revitalize the country’s struggling housing market.

The government is seen including the program in an economic stimulus package that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to call for soon. It plans to set aside around ¥100 billion for the program under a supplementary budget for fiscal 2014 that ends in March next year, the sources said.

Under the program, eco-points are given to those who build new houses that meet energy-saving standards and conduct renovations of their houses, for example, by replacing windows, outer walls and floors with highly insulating products.

Homeowners can exchange the points for products, such as eco-friendly consumer electronics and gift certificates.

The government has run housing eco-point programs twice in the past.

In the first program, which was part of the additional stimulus package for fiscal 2009, applications were accepted between March 2010 and July 2011.

The second program was conducted to support reconstruction after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, with applications accepted from January to October 2012 in areas affected by the disaster and to July the same year in the rest of the country.

This time, the government also wants the eco-point program to help regional revitalization, one of the prioritized policies of the Abe administration, the sources said.

One idea is to add local specialties to the list of products for which eco-points can be exchanged, according to the sources.

As another measure to stimulate the housing market, the government is considering increasing the cut in preferential interest rates on Flat 35 S fixed-rate long-term housing loans from the current 0.3 percentage point.

The Flat 35 loans are provided jointly by the government-affiliated Japan Housing Finance Agency and private-sector banks.

Recent land ministry data showed that housing starts in Japan in April-September fell 11.6 percent from a year before to 441,367 units. The government has been urged to take fast-acting measures to shore up the housing market, which faces a prolonged slump after a surge in home purchases ahead of the consumption tax hike in April.