New foreigners seeking to obtain a residence permit to stay in Tukey full time will not encounter a $125,000 obstacle.
Starting from October 16, foreigners looking to obtain a residence permit must invest in real estate that has a minimum value of $200,000. Before this date, the threshold was just $75,000.
This value will be determined based on the Central Bank’s foreign exchange selling rate on the day the property’s title deed is acquired. It’s important to note that this regulation does not apply to real estate acquired prior to October 16, 2023.
For real estate purchases made from April 26, 2022, to October 16, 2023, the minimum limits will remain at $75,000 for metropolitan cities and $50,000 for other cities. A real estate valuation report will continue to be mandatory for these applications.
As of June 13, 2022, a regulation allows foreigners who purchase real estate worth $400,000 to be eligible to apply for Turkish citizenship. The previous requirement for citizenship had been reduced from $1 million to $250,000 as of September 2018 but was increased to $400,000 last year.
Decline in real estate sales to foreigners
Real estate sales to foreigners saw a decline of 42% in September, with sales limited to 2,930 properties. During this period, sales to foreigners accounted for 2.9 percent of total housing sales.
In the January-September period, there was a 43.5 percent decrease in real estate sales to foreigners, with 28,064 properties sold to foreign buyers. Between 2018 and 2022, foreigners had been purchasing an average of around 50,000 properties annually.
New rental regulations announced
New legal regulations regarding housing rental activities for tourism purposes have been approved by the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
The bill on renting houses for tourism purposes was accepted in the Parliament. The proposal, which requires a permit for renting, includes high fines for unauthorized rentals, advertisement sites, and those who rent the same house more than the specified number of times in a year.
Starting from October 16, foreigners seeking residence permits must invest a minimum of $200,000 in real estate, up from the previous threshold of $75,000.
In order for residences to be rented for tourism purposes, a permit will be required before making a rental contract for tourism purposes.
The authority to grant permission will belong only to the Ministry. In permit applications, the unanimous decision of all floor owners of the building in which the independent section subject to the permit is located, which is deemed suitable for rental for tourism purposes, must be submitted.
According to the law, the obligation to obtain permission will belong to the lessor. If rental activities for tourism purposes are carried out other than the lessor, these rentals can be carried out through Group A travel agencies certified in accordance with the Law on Travel Agencies and the Association of Travel Agencies.
If the permit holder is a real person, the heirs do not apply within 3 months from the date of death, or if the legal entity expires, the permit will lose its validity, but the rights of the users will continue until the contract period ends.
In the management plan prepared in accordance with the Property Ownership Law, it is stated that short-term rental activities are allowed, there are reception, security and daily cleaning service areas, health services , dry cleaning, laundry, transportation, food and shopping service, gym, swimming pool.
For high quality residences with more than one independent section where services can be provided, “unanimous decision must be taken by all flat owners of the building where the independent section subject to the permit is located” and “for buildings consisting of more than three independent sections, a permit document must be prepared in the name of the same lessor for a maximum of 25 percent” “Regarding conditions will not be required and a permit can be issued.
The law also imposes administrative penalties on those who engage in unauthorized rental activities and permit holders.
Those who rent out houses for tourism purposes without a permit will be fined 100,000 lira for each house and will be given 15 days to operate by obtaining a permit.
During this period, those who continue their rental activities for tourism purposes without obtaining a permit will be subject to an administrative penalty of 500,000 liras and will be given another 15-day period to operate by obtaining a permit.
An administrative penalty of 100,000 liras for each contract will be imposed on those who rent a residence for tourism purposes from the permit holder to other people in their own name.