Holiday rentals news - Foreigners banned from buying property in parts of Turkey

Foreigners banned from buying property in parts of Turkey

Foreigners have been banned from buying property in several parts of Turkey. However, experts feel that this is unlikely to affect the holiday home market in the country.

A number of locations in south east Turkey are covered by the ban, reports the English language newspaper The Hurryet Daily News. The ban on foreigners purchasing Turkey apartments has been introduced after land purchases by foreign owners exceeded the 10 per cent limit imposed by the country's government.

As a result, overseas investors can no longer purchase property in certain inland areas close to the Syrian border. These are Mardin, Kilis and Hatay.

Nevertheless, industry experts are confident that the ban will not impact on second home purchases. "This has nothing to do with the holiday home market," Julian Walker from Turkish estate agent Spot Blue told Overseas Property Professional (OPP). "These are popular areas for commercial and industrial land purchasers but not for the residential market."

Darren Edwards, director of Network Turkey, added: "These are not tourist areas and will not affect real estate sales, nor do I believe similar [restrictions] will be implemented in the major cities or the coastal resorts of the Aegean and the Mediterranean."

Despite Edwards's view that the restrictions will not spread, OPP warns that "similar bans could technically be brought in in other areas of the country". This would be the case should foreign ownership reach 10 per cent.

However, such measures may be a long way off. Concerns were raised that foreign ownership could reach the limit in the Mugla region, which includes Bodrum, Marmaris, Dalaman and Fethiye. Mugla is "the prime area for foreigners purchasing," Ishik Ahment from World Abodes told OPP. Such fears were unfounded, he added: "As far as I am aware, Mugla region is still some way away from achieving this figure at this moment in time."

This story was brought to you by holidaylettings.co.uk, the UK's No.1 for holiday homes worldwide.

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