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).

Land or a building sold within five years of its acquisition produces a gain that counts as a value-increase gain, except where it was acquired without consideration (Income Tax Law No. 193, repeated art. 80/6 and art. 70/1). The property capital gains tax calculator gives a preliminary figure.

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).

Title cancellation and registration

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). TMK art. 1025 sets no time limit for the suit, and the list of disputes for which mediation is a condition of suing (HUAK art. 18/B) does not name it. For suits based on transfers the deceased made in their lifetime, see the section on sham transfers (muris muvazaası) on the inheritance page.

To prepare. The current land registry entry and the documents behind the registration in question (sale, power of attorney, will, court decision), payment records between the parties, and any power of attorney and notary records.

Ecrimisil and stopping interference

Ecrimisil (occupation compensation)

Ecrimisil is compensation claimed from someone who uses property without right, for the period of use. The Code does not use the word; it rests on the rules on a possessor’s liability. A possessor in bad faith who wrongfully keeps what they must return compensates 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) and may claim back necessary and useful expenses from the person asking for the property (art. 994). For the court, the general rule is HMK art. 2. The article sets no time limit for the claim; which limitation period applies is not given on this page.

To prepare. The current land registry entry, documents showing when the occupation began and that it continues (letters, a record of inspection, photographs), and documents showing the property’s use value over the period.

Stopping interference (elatmanın önlenmesi)

An owner may sue whoever wrongfully holds the property to recover it, and may also sue to stop any wrongful interference (TMK art. 683). The following routes also protect possession:

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). The owner’s action to stop interference has no time limit in the article, and the civil court of first instance where the property lies decides it. The claim is accompanied by the land registry entry and documents showing when and how the interference began (record of inspection, photographs, letters).

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, and partition cannot be demanded at an unsuitable time (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). The articles set no time limit for the suit. The order is: the co-owners try to agree; failing that, mediation is applied for; the suit is then filed in the civil court of peace with the mediator’s final minutes. An agreement reached in mediation about real estate needs an enforceability annotation from the civil court of peace where the property lies (HUAK art. 18/B).

To prepare. The current land registry entry, the co-owners’ identity and address details, any contract restricting partition, and documents showing whether the property can be divided (zoning and use records).

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).

Constitutional Court decision. By its decision of 16 July 2026 (E.2026/23, K.2026/162, published in the Resmî Gazete of 6 November 2026, no. 33422), the Constitutional Court annulled the second paragraph of TMK art. 734 (setting and depositing the share’s market value) and paragraph 2 of temporary art. 1 added by Law 7571. The annulment takes effect nine months after publication, on 6 August 2027. Until then the paragraph remains in force and the third bullet above applies. This page does not say what rule will apply afterwards; no replacing provision has been read.

Waiver and contractual pre-emption. Waiver of the right must be in official form and annotated on the land register; giving up the right for a particular sale needs only writing and can be done before or after the sale (art. 733). A pre-emption right based on a contract and annotated on the register is dealt with in art. 735; the annotation lapses after ten years at most.

To prepare. The notary’s notice of the sale or evidence of the date it reached you, the land registry entry, the title deed showing the co-ownership, and documents on the buyer’s title costs.

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).

Taking without expropriation (kamulaştırmasız el atma)

Kamulaştırmasız el atma is a public body’s taking of private property in fact, without following the procedure and principles of the Expropriation Law: the property is put to public use, or allocated to a public need and built on, or taken wholly or partly without the owner’s consent, in fact or in law, although the expropriation was never completed or never made. The Constitutional Court describes this as an interference with the right to property that is plainly contrary to the Constitution (E.2026/24, K.2026/106, § 11, 21, 27). The owner sues the public body for the value and damages; if the claim succeeds, a debt is awarded in the owner’s favour (same decision, § 16).

Court. The Law provides that disputes arising under Law No. 2942 that must be resolved in the ordinary courts are heard by the civil court of first instance where the property lies, under the simplified procedure (art. 37). That these suits fall within the provision is read from temporary art. 6, temporary art. 19 and additional art. 4, which refer to them; no provision says so expressly. Whether a suit belongs in the administrative courts, depending on what the public body did, is not covered here.

Rules by date of the taking. The Law treats takings differently depending on when they happened:

The administration’s assets, rights and receivables cannot be attached to collect a sum payable under temporary art. 6. Temporary art. 7 was annulled by the Constitutional Court on 13 November 2014 (E.2013/95, K.2014/176) and the annulment took effect on 13 September 2015; it is not in force.

The Constitutional Court annulled Law No. 221 (which treated land actually allocated to public services before 9 October 1956 as expropriated on the allocation date) in a decision of 21 April 2022 (E.2021/19). Temporary art. 20 regulates the subject again inside Law 2942. Whether the new provision has been brought before the Constitutional Court, and what the period for claiming the value is in concrete terms, is not stated on this page; temporary art. 20 ties the period to that of the annulled Law No. 221.

Taking in law (hukuki el atma). For land whose use is legally restricted by a zoning plan, by allocation to public services or official institutions, so that the core of the right of property is touched, the Law provides that within five years of the plan coming into force a zoning programme or works are carried out, and that the land is expropriated within budget possibilities or the restriction is lifted by a plan amendment (additional art. 1). No court is named in this provision.

Payment and enforcement. A sum awarded by a court (value, damages, attorney’s fee and costs) is paid within thirty days of the claimant or the lawyer telling the administration in writing the bank account number; failing that it is enforced under the general rules. Court and enforcement fees in these suits are fixed amounts payable by the administration (additional art. 4). Title-registry fees arising when a final court decision on a taking without expropriation is carried out, or when a settlement between owner and administration is implemented, are paid by the administration (art. 29, as replaced by Law 7584 art. 16, in force since 20 June 2026).

Changes in 2026.

• Law 7584 (Resmî Gazete, 20 June 2026, no. 33286): art. 29 replaced (above).
• Law 7588 (Resmî Gazete, 11 July 2026, no. 33307): temporary art. 20 added (above).
• Constitutional Court, 13 May 2026 (E.2026/24, K.2026/106; Resmî Gazete, 7 August 2026, no. 33333): the second paragraph of additional art. 4, which let the administration ask under the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law art. 36 for enforcement to be stayed without giving security, was annulled as regards compensation suits brought for a taking without expropriation (kamulaştırmasız el atma). The decision sets no separate date for the annulment to take effect; the amendment table of Law 2942 shows 7 August 2026.

Time limits. Apart from claims under temporary art. 6, the Law’s text gives no time limit for these suits; its art. 38 on a forfeiture period was annulled by the Constitutional Court’s decision of 10 April 2003. How limitation and forfeiture periods apply is not given on this page.

To prepare. The current land registry entry or documents showing possession, documents showing when and how the taking happened (zoning plan, tender and construction records, survey or photographs), correspondence with the administration, and for claims under temporary art. 6 the invitation and the records of the settlement talks.

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).

For the court, the general rule is HMK art. 2; in suits that may change who owns a real right, for example a suit to register land shares, the court where the property lies has exclusive territorial jurisdiction (HMK art. 12).

To prepare. The construction contract and any annotation on the title, the current land registry entry, handover records, and notices of delay and defects.

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).

To prepare. The risky-building report and the notice of the finding (periods run from notification), land registry entries, the majority’s decision and the offer notified to the owners.

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)

A suit to determine the rent can be filed at any time. The rent the court sets binds the tenant 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. Where the lease itself provides for an increase in the new year, the rent set in a suit filed before the end of that year also applies from the start of the year (TBK art. 345). The civil court of peace hears all disputes arising from a lease (HMK art. 4), and mediation must be tried before suing (HUAK art. 18/B).

To prepare. The lease, earlier years’ payment records and notices of increase, and documents showing the condition of the premises and comparable rents nearby.

Rent adaptation suit (kira uyarlama davası)

An unforeseeable extraordinary event, not caused by the debtor, may arise after the contract was made. If it so changes the facts present when the contract was made that demanding performance would breach good faith, and the debtor has not yet performed, or performed while reserving their rights, the debtor can ask the judge to adapt the contract to the new conditions or, if that is not possible, may withdraw. In a continuing contract such as a lease, the debtor as a rule uses the right to terminate instead of withdrawing (TBK art. 138). The suit is a dispute arising from a lease: the civil court of peace hears it (HMK art. 4) and mediation comes first (HUAK art. 18/B). The article sets no time limit.

To prepare. The lease, documents showing that the event could not be foreseen when the contract was made and was not caused by the debtor, and the accounts and records showing the difficulty in performing.

Unpaid rent claim (kira alacağı davası)

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).

To prepare. The lease, a statement of the unpaid periods with payment records, and the written warning to the tenant with proof that it reached the tenant.

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).

Eviction suit against a tenant

The landlord sues on one of the grounds above. The civil court of peace hears all disputes arising from a lease (HMK art. 4), and, except for eviction through enforcement without a judgment, mediation must be tried before suing (HUAK art. 18/B). The time limit differs by ground: for most grounds it is 1 month from the relevant date (art. 350, 352), and if the landlord tells the tenant in writing, within that period, that they will sue, the period is extended by one lease year (art. 353). The usual order is:

1. Identify the ground and the date. Find the ground in the table and the date from which the one-month period runs.
2. Protect the period. Apply to mediation within it, or give the tenant written notice that you will sue (art. 353).
3. Sue with the mediator’s final minutes. They are attached to the claim; if they are missing, the court gives a firm period of one week, after which the claim is dismissed on procedural grounds (HUAK art. 18/A).

The tenant is protected in these ways: the grounds for ending the lease by suit are limited and cannot be varied to the tenant’s detriment (art. 354); where a home let as the family home is concerned, the tenant cannot terminate without the spouse’s express consent (art. 349); and on a tenant’s death, their partners, or heirs who carry on the same trade or profession, and those who lived with them in the same home may continue the lease while they comply with its terms and the law (art. 356).

To prepare. The lease, the documents for the ground relied on (for need, documents on the landlord’s and relatives’ circumstances; for an undertaking, the undertaking; for warnings, the notices and proof of service), and payment records.

Eviction for the landlord’s need (ihtiyaç nedeniyle tahliye)

The landlord may end the lease by suit if they must use the property as a home or workplace for themselves, their spouse, descendants, ascendants or others they must legally support. In a fixed-term lease the suit is filed within one month from the end of the term; in an indefinite lease, within one month from the date fixed under the general rules on termination periods and notice. The same period applies where rebuilding, or major works to enlarge or alter the property, are necessary and make use impossible while they are carried out (TBK art. 350). A person who later acquires the property and needs it for themselves or those relatives may, by notifying the tenant in writing within one month of acquiring it, end the lease by a suit filed six months later; they may instead sue within one month of the end of the lease term (art. 351).

A landlord who has had the property vacated for need may not, without just cause, let it to anyone other than the former tenant for three years. After an eviction for rebuilding, the former tenant has a priority right to rent the rebuilt property on its new terms and rent, to be used within one month of the landlord’s written notice. A landlord who breaches these rules owes the former tenant compensation of at least the last 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).

To prepare. Documents showing the need and why the property must be used (the current housing of the landlord or relative, civil-registry records of the family tie), the lease, and for a new owner the land registry entry, the date of acquisition and the written notice to the tenant.

Eviction undertaking (tahliye taahhüdü)

If, after the property was handed over, the tenant undertook in writing to vacate on a given date and did not, the landlord may end the lease by applying to the enforcement office or by suing within one month from that date (TBK art. 352). The undertaking must have been given after the handover; the position of undertakings signed with the lease and dated later is not covered on this page. A suit goes to the civil court of peace and needs mediation first; eviction through enforcement without a judgment is outside the mediation requirement (HMK art. 4; HUAK art. 18/B). How the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law provisions on eviction of leased property (art. 269 ff.) apply to an enforcement application based on an undertaking is not set out here.

To prepare. The dated written undertaking, the handover record or other proof of the handover, and the lease.

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). The Constitutional Court annulled this paragraph; the annulment takes effect on 6 August 2027, and the paragraph applies until then.
• Skipping the settlement step for a 1956–1983 taking. For a claim for value, settlement talks are a condition of suing, and the suit to fix the value must be filed within three months of the record of non-settlement (Law 2942 temporary art. 6).

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.
• For a taking without expropriation: the current land registry entry or documents showing possession, documents showing the date and nature of the taking (zoning plan, construction records, photographs), and correspondence with the administration.