Holiday Rentals News - Turkish government lifts suspension on title deeds to foreigners

Turkish government lifts suspension on title deeds to foreigners

The Turkish property market has been opened up to foreign investors once more, following a decision by the country's government. Overseas Property Professional (OPP) reports on changes to a key Act in Turkey’s constitution.

Just weeks after the issuing of title deeds was suspended, Turkey's government has overturned its decision. The change to Article 35 of the Title Deed Act (Tapu) was announced by the Ministry of Public Works and Settlement on May 1st and is expected to come into effect after details of the ruling are published in the official gazette. This is thought to be in the next few weeks. Prior to the recent announcement, on April 15th Turkey's constitutional court ruled that a specific section of Article 35 of the Tapu, which governs the purchase of property by non-Turkish nationals and foreign companies, was not in line with the Turkish constitution.

The new legislation states that non-nationals are now able to purchase up to ten per cent of the total area covered in the local planning zone for a town. Before the suspension, individual foreign property investors could purchase Turkish land provided that it did not exceed 0.5 per cent of the province's entire total area, rather than just that of the town.

The issue runs deeper than whether foreign nationals should be allowed to invest in Turkey's property market. As Basak Yildiz, Turkish Lawyer at The International Law Partnership LLP points out, the real question was whether officials should relax the regulations regarding the size of land non-Turks could own, not whether they should be able to acquire land at all. Yildiz explained: "This suspension was always intended to be temporary, allowing time for the legislation to be re-drafted. The draft legislation, which will lift the suspension, was passed by the Justice Commission of Turkish Parliament. The main change relates to the size of property that foreigners can buy."

The Turkish Parliament also included an additional paragraph to the Tapu, which gives local authorities up to three months, from when the new legislation is published, to inform the Council of the size of their town's area covered by planning zones as well as of any restricted areas. Until all the necessary details have been gathered, non-nationals will be able to purchase up to the full ten per cent. However, once they have all the data, the Council of Ministers may choose to reduce the percentage in some towns.

This story was brought to you by holidaylettings.co.uk, the UK's No.1 holiday home website. Print this article