Real estate

Buying and selling

A contract to transfer real estate is valid only in official form (TMK art. 706; TBK art. 237). The land registry draws up the official deed (resmî senet) for a sale (Land Registry Law art. 26), and ownership passes on registration (TMK art. 705). TKGM, the land registry authority, describes these steps:

1. Agree on the property and the price. For a foreign buyer, the bank sends the foreign-exchange purchase certificate (döviz alım belgesi) to the registry.
2. Apply with the documents, at an office or online through Web Tapu (via e-Devlet).
3. Pay the title fee (tapu harcı) and the revolving-fund fee once the office sends the amounts by SMS.
4. Sign the official deed at the appointed time; the title deed is then issued.

Since 1 January 2020 any land registry office can handle the sale, wherever the property lies (TKGM). The title fee is charged separately to seller and buyer, on the declared price but not below the property-tax value (Fees Law No. 492, art. 63 and tariff 4). The President can change the rate, so it is not repeated here; the title-deed fee calculator gives a preliminary figure. If the declared price proves lower than the real one, the missing fee is assessed together with a penalty of the same amount (art. 63).

Foreign buyers

• Who. Nationals of countries designated by the President, with no reciprocity test since 2012 (Land Registry Law art. 35). TKGM does not publish the list; a land registry office can confirm whether a nationality qualifies.
• How much. At most 30 hectares per person nationwide, and foreigners together at most 10% of a district’s private land (art. 35).
• Unbuilt land. The buyer must submit a development project to the relevant ministry within 2 years (art. 35).
• Military and security zones. No acquisitions in second-degree military forbidden zones (Law 2565 art. 9); special security zones need the governor’s permission (TKGM).
• Companies. A Turkish company with 50% or more foreign capital may acquire property for its business purposes (art. 36; see company law).
• Citizenship. A purchase for citizenship by investment (Turkish Citizenship Law art. 12) needs an amount-determination certificate (tutar tespit belgesi) from a licensed valuer, at most 12 months old, and, according to TKGM, a 3-year no-sale annotation on the title.

Acting from abroad

A power of attorney notarised in the UK needs an apostille and the grantor’s photograph; legalisation by a foreign consulate in Türkiye is not accepted. A Turkish citizen must grant it using a Turkish ID card or passport, not a British one (TKGM; see power of attorney from the UK).

Correcting the land register

Whoever acquires ownership or another real right in good faith, relying on the land register, keeps it (TMK art. 1023). A registration without a valid legal ground, or based on a non-binding legal transaction, is unlawful (yolsuz tescil), and a third party who knew or should have known cannot rely on it (art. 1024). The person whose real right it harms can sue to have the register corrected; this is the suit for cancellation of title and registration (tapu iptali ve tescil davası). Rights acquired in good faith and claims for compensation are preserved (art. 1025).

A person entitled to registration, for example under a promise of sale made in official form, can ask the judge to transfer ownership if the owner refuses (art. 716). The State is liable for harm arising from the keeping of the register (art. 1007). Title suits go to the civil court of first instance (asliye hukuk mahkemesi) where the property lies (HMK art. 2, 12).

Stopping interference and claiming for occupation

The first two protect possession as such; whoever claims a better right must prove it at once or go to court (TMK art. 982; Law 3091 art. 7). For compensation covering the period of occupation (ecrimisil), a possessor in bad faith must compensate the harm caused and the fruits obtained or neglected (TMK art. 995); a possessor in good faith owes nothing for use in line with a presumed right (art. 993).

Partition and pre-emption of co-owned property

Partition (ortaklığın giderilmesi, izale-i şuyu). Any co-owner may ask for partition unless a legal transaction or the property’s lasting purpose requires the co-ownership to continue; a contract can bar it for at most ten years (TMK art. 698). Without agreement, the judge divides the property in kind, balancing unequal parts with cash. Where division is unsuitable or would considerably reduce the property’s value, the judge orders a public auction; an auction open only to the co-owners requires the consent of all of them (art. 699). The civil court of peace hears the case whatever the value (HMK art. 4), after mediation (HUAK art. 18/B).

Pre-emption (önalım, şufa). If a co-owner sells a share in real estate to an outsider, the other co-owners may claim it (TMK art. 732). Under the rules as amended by Law 7571, in force since 25 December 2025:

• it cannot be used in forced auctions or in sales under the State Tender Law No. 2886 (art. 733);
• the sale is notified through a notary, and the right lapses 3 months after notice and in any case 1 year after the sale, down from two years (art. 733);
• the claimant sues the buyer and must deposit the market value set by the judge, plus the buyer’s title costs, within the judge’s firm period, or the share cannot be registered to the claimant (art. 734);
• the art. 733 changes do not apply to sales before 25 December 2025; the art. 734 change applies to pending cases too (TMK temporary art. 1).

A worked example (hypothetical). Two siblings each own half of a plot. One sells his half to an outsider on 2 March 2026, and the notary’s notice reaches the other on 16 April 2026. She must sue the buyer by 16 July 2026, three months after the notice; had she never been notified, the limit would have been 2 March 2027, one year after the sale (TMK art. 733). She must then deposit in time the market value the judge sets and the buyer’s title costs (art. 734).

Construction in return for flats

In a construction contract in return for land shares (arsa payı karşılığı inşaat, usually called kat karşılığı), the landowner transfers land shares to a contractor, who builds and hands over an agreed number of flats to the owner.

• Form. The promise to transfer land shares needs official form (TMK art. 706; TBK art. 237). A notarised contract can be annotated on the title at either party’s request; the annotation lapses if no transfer is registered within five years (Land Registry Law art. 26).
• Delay. If the contractor clearly cannot finish on time, the owner may withdraw without waiting for the delivery date (TBK art. 473).
• Defects. The owner must inspect the work after handover and report defects within a reasonable time, and defects that appear later without delay; otherwise the work counts as accepted (art. 474, 477). The remedies are free repair, a price reduction or, for serious defects, withdrawal, which is excluded where removing the work from the owner’s land would cause excessive harm (art. 475). Claims are time-barred five years after handover, or twenty years if the contractor was grossly at fault (art. 478).

Urban regeneration (kentsel dönüşüm)

Law No. 6306 governs buildings at risk in a disaster (“risky buildings”):

1. Assessment. Owners commission it, at their own cost, from an institution licensed by the Urban Transformation Presidency (Kentsel Dönüşüm Başkanlığı), or the authorities carry it out. Owners may object within 15 days (art. 3).
2. Notice. The finding is noted in the land register and posted for 15 days at the neighbourhood office (muhtarlık); it counts as served on the last day (art. 3).
3. Demolition. Owners get at most 90 days to demolish, after which the authorities can do it (art. 5).
4. Decision. Owners holding a simple majority of the shares decide how to rebuild, including construction in return for flats. If a dissenting owner does not accept the notified offer within 15 days, their land share is sold at auction to the agreeing owners, at no less than the market value the Presidency sets (art. 6).

Owners and tenants who leave by agreement may receive temporary housing or rent assistance (art. 5). Administrative acts under the Law can be challenged in the administrative courts within 30 days of notification (art. 6).

Apartment buildings (kat mülkiyeti)

• Costs. Unless agreed otherwise, staff costs are shared equally and other common costs by land share (arsa payı). No owner can refuse to contribute by giving up the use of a facility, and late payment carries delay compensation of 5% a month (KMK art. 20). A tenant is liable for these costs up to the rent owed, deducted from the rent (art. 22).
• Budget. Since 2026 the owners’ assembly approves the operating budget (işletme projesi); until it does, a provisional budget applies, and where a budget already exists the provisional amount may rise by no more than the annual revaluation rate (art. 37).
• Decisions. An owner who voted against an assembly decision can sue to annul it within 1 month, and an absent owner within 1 month of learning of it, but in every case within 6 months; void decisions can be challenged at any time (art. 33). These cases go to the civil court of peace (additional art. 1), after mediation (HUAK art. 18/B).

Rent increases, court-set rent and adaptation

Leases are governed by TBK art. 299 ff. The special rules for homes and roofed business premises do not apply to property meant for temporary use let for six months or less (art. 339). Penalty clauses for late rent are void (art. 346), and a deposit may not exceed three months’ rent (art. 342).

At renewal. An agreed increase is valid only up to the 12-month average change in the consumer price index (CPI) over the previous lease year; without agreement, the judge sets the rent within the same limit (TBK art. 344). The rent increase calculator uses the latest figure. The temporary 25% cap on homes covered only renewals up to 1 July 2024 (temporary art. 1–2).

After five years. The judge sets the rent on equitable grounds, taking into account the CPI change, the condition of the premises and comparable rents, without the CPI cap; this repeats every five years (art. 344).

Rent determination suit (kira tespit davası). It can be filed at any time. The new rent applies from the start of the new lease year if the suit is filed at least 30 days before that year begins, or if the landlord gives written notice of the increase by then and sues before that year ends (art. 345).

Adaptation (kira uyarlama davası). If an unforeseeable extraordinary event, not caused by the party, makes performance so onerous that demanding it would breach good faith, that party can ask the judge to adapt the contract or, if that is not possible, to terminate a continuing contract such as a lease (TBK art. 138).

Unpaid rent (kira alacağı)

Unless the lease or local custom provides otherwise, rent is due at the end of each month (TBK art. 314). If it is not paid, the landlord can set a written deadline, at least 30 days for homes and roofed business premises, warning of termination (art. 315). Rent claims are time-barred after 5 years (art. 147).

The landlord can sue in the civil court of peace after mediation (HMK art. 4; HUAK art. 18/B), or use enforcement without a judgment (ilamsız icra). There the tenant has 7 days to object to the payment order (İİK art. 269). If the tenant neither objects nor pays within the warning period, the enforcement court orders eviction on a request made within six months after that period ends (art. 269/a). This eviction route needs no mediation (HUAK art. 18/B).

Eviction (tahliye)

A landlord cannot end a fixed-term lease of a home or roofed business premises simply because its term has expired. The lease renews for a year unless the tenant gives notice at least 15 days before the end (TBK art. 347). To end it, the landlord needs one of the grounds below, and these rules cannot be varied to the tenant’s detriment (art. 354).

If the landlord tells the tenant in writing, within the deadline, that they will sue, the deadline is extended by one lease year (art. 353). After an eviction for need, the property may not be let to anyone but the former tenant for three years without just cause; a landlord who breaches this owes at least one year’s rent (art. 355).

A worked example (hypothetical). A one-year lease ends on 15 August 2027, and the landlord needs the flat for his daughter. His one-month period to sue ends on 15 September 2027 (TBK art. 350), and he must apply to mediation before suing (HUAK art. 18/B). A written notice to the tenant before 15 September 2027 that he will sue gives him until the end of the next lease year (TBK art. 353).

Mediation before court

Since 1 September 2023, mediation must be tried before suing in disputes arising from a lease (except eviction through enforcement without a judgment), on partition and ending co-ownership, under the Condominium Law and under neighbour law (HUAK art. 18/B). The mediator must finish within 3 weeks, extendable by 1 week. A party who skips the first meeting without excuse bears half of the court costs the other side would have to pay, even if it wins the case, and is awarded only half of the statutory attorney’s fee. A suit filed without the final minutes is dismissed; from the application until the final minutes, limitation periods are suspended and preclusive periods do not run (art. 18/A). An agreement on real estate needs an enforceability annotation from the civil court of peace where the property lies, and since November 2024 an agreed transfer can then be registered without an official deed (art. 18/B).

Deadlines in one place

Mistakes that cost owners and tenants

• Letting the month pass. Eviction on these grounds must be sought within one month (TBK art. 350, 352); apply to mediation within it, or notify the tenant in writing that you will sue (art. 353).
• Going straight to court. In rent, partition, condominium and neighbour disputes, a suit filed before mediation is dismissed (HUAK art. 18/A, 18/B).
• Declaring a lower price at the land registry. The missing fee is assessed later with a penalty equal to it (Fees Law art. 63).
• Taking the eviction undertaking before handover. The statutory ground requires an undertaking given in writing after the premises were handed over (TBK art. 352).
• Re-letting soon after an eviction for need. Letting to someone else within three years without just cause costs at least one year’s rent (TBK art. 355).
• Missing the deposit in a pre-emption suit. Without it, the share cannot be registered to the claimant (TMK art. 734).

Documents to prepare

• Title deed or parcel details, identity documents and a power of attorney that meets TKGM’s rules.
• For a sale: the compulsory earthquake insurance (DASK) policy, the municipal property-value document (emlak rayiç değeri) and bank transfer receipts.
• For foreign buyers: passport and its translation, the foreign-exchange purchase certificate, a photograph, the amount-determination certificate if buying for citizenship, and a sworn translator if you do not speak Turkish.
• For lease disputes: the lease, payment records, written notices and any eviction undertaking.
• For co-ownership and construction disputes: a current title extract, the construction contract and, for property inherited by several heirs, the certificate of inheritance.
• For apartment buildings: the management plan, the operating budget and the assembly minutes.
• For urban regeneration: the risky-building report, its notification and the majority’s offer.