I. Introduction
With an amendment made in 2012 in Article 35 of the Land Registry Law No. 2644, the conditions real estate acquisition by foreigners in Turkey have been simplified. In order for real persons of foreign nationality to acquire real estate in Turkey, the requirement that Turkish citizens have the right to acquire real estate in the foreigner’s country (reciprocity condition) has been abolished in terms of 183 countries. Although there is no clear list of these countries due to the principle of confidentiality, citizens of European, Arab and Islamic countries, excluding Syrian citizens, will be able to acquire in Turkey real estate if the conditions listed below are met.
II. Legal Restrictions on Real Estate Acquisition
Although the conditions have been simplified with the amendment of the law, a limit on the amount of real estate acquisition by foreigners has been introduced. Pursuant to the law, the total area of immovable property acquired by real persons of foreign nationality and limited independent and permanent rights in rem shall not exceed ten percent of the district area subject to private property and thirty hectares per capita throughout the country. The President, on the other hand, has the authority to increase the amount that can be obtained throughout the country per capita up to twice.
Another prohibition regulated in the Law is that foreign real persons cannot acquire immovable property and cannot acquire any real rights on immovables in military forbidden zones and security zones.
In terms of quality, real persons of foreign nationality will be able to acquire all kinds of real estate in Turkey. For example, there is no restriction on the type of immovables in terms of acquiring a residence, workplace, land or field. However, in terms of unstructured immovables (land, field, etc.), the projects to be developed in these immovables must be notified to the relevant Ministries within 2 years from the acquisition of the immovable. If the projects to be notified by real persons of foreign nationality are not approved or the necessary notification is not made, the liquidation procedure will be applied for the real estate.
III. Conditions to be Complied with in the Acquisition of Real Estate
First of all, the immovable owner or his representative must make a preliminary application to the Land Registry Directorate. If the person to transfer the property is a Turkish citizen, an application can be made by making an appointment. The requirements for the application are as follows:
- Title Deed Information of the immovable (can be obtained from the Land Registry Directorate) or information of village/neighborhood, island, parcel, building, independent section,
- Identity document or passport,
- Real Estate Declared Value Certificate of the Immovable, obtained from the relevant municipality,
- Compulsory earthquake insurance policy for buildings (housing, workplace, etc.),
- 1 photo of the seller and 2 photos of the buyer taken within the last 6 months,
- If there is a party who does not speak Turkish, a sworn translator and two witnesses,
- If the transaction will be carried out with a copy of the power of attorney issued abroad, the original or certified copy of the power of attorney together with its translation.
The point that should be emphasized is that, as in the real estate acquisition of Turkish citizens, foreign real persons must also transfer the ownership of real estate with an official deed to be signed at the Land Registry Office and register them in the land registry. This requirement is mandatory for acquiring ownership, and there is no way to make unlawful transfers eligible. The contracts to be made in the presence of a notary public are a promise of sale contract, and with the signing of this contract, no ownership is acquired, only a “promise” is made that the property will be transferred in the future.
IV. Conclusion
Follow-up of the detailed processes outlined above, whether foreign real persons requesting real estate can acquire real estate, and the supply of necessary documents are carried out by our legal department. We carry out research on whether there are restrictions and all kinds of consultancy services that may be needed in this context.
You can always contact us for real estate purchase and other questions….
Best Regards,
Edel Property Team