By A.J. Griffiths-Jones

With less than a month to go before construction companies get into full swing on new builds and resume progress on planned sites, it’s a bit of a puzzle to figure out where all the expected purchasers of these new houses will come from.

There has undoubtedly been a downturn in the housing market this year, with inflation rates in Turkiye deterring many from moving and others deciding to sell up. There are certainly less expats investing here than in past years, with both rising costs and the complex red-tape involved in applying for residency causing many to look at other countries and cheaper options.

In my own neighbourhood, one house has been on the market since the beginning of the year and many older properties are up for sale due to the price of necessary renovation being beyond the reach of owner’s budgets.

However, despite the varied availability in the current market, there is a lot of planned construction in the same area, with one plot laid out for twenty-six brand new villas which are estimated to be priced in excess of 14 million Turkish Lira each. It seems that the construction industry is thriving here, despite rising costs in building materials and labour, but where are all these new purchasers going to come from and how will the current infrastructure cope?

I find it hard to believe that locals are going to be snapping up these luxury properties, it’s far more likely that they will be purchased by wealthy Turks and Europeans as holiday homes, which means that the villas will stand empty all winter, and place even more strain upon resources in the summer months.

I for one cannot imagine an increased influx of holidaymakers in the small town of Akbuk, where I live. This year our streets and utilities have been put under great pressure, especially the chaos caused by the number of vehicles in the area, and the increased amount of rubbish has been too great for the council collectors to competently deal with.

It’s a Catch 22 situation.

Construction is necessary for the development of an area and the number of builders employed for these vast projects are a bonus for local workers, providing steady employment for many months.

Yet hundreds of new homes hooked up to the electricity grid, sewerage, water and internet only serves to put a strain on existing properties. We must also remember that a growing population also has social needs and anyone attending the doctor’s surgery here on a Monday morning in summer will tell you that the strain on resources is very real.

There is also the factor of infrastructure, such as roads, access, and parking facilities. Perhaps introducing a one-way system may be conducive to easing the congestion, but when you have thousands of holidaymakers descending on an area all at the same time, as often happens here, unless careful planning and serious consideration are given to the problem of over-crowding our beautiful beach resorts will be ruined.

So, what would I do? Firstly, I would put a restriction on new-builds until derelict or partially constructed buildings were mandated by law to be completed or demolished within a certain period, especially if they were close to the seafront or becoming an eye-sore.

I would also give due consideration to removing the 5% property tax that is incurred if you move house within five years. This is a cost that few can afford and prevents people from downsizing to a smaller property if their personal circumstances change.

Finally, from a conservation point of view, I would create a marked border of land backing on to forest areas, preventing any new builds from converging onto areas where wildlife inhabit and thus reducing the risk of fires caused by outdoor barbecues.

Honestly, I don’t think there is a solution that would please everyone, but surely we have to put a cap on our rising summer population.