The recent depreciation of Turkish Lira attracts foreign investors to buy properties in Turkey for bargain prices.
Property investors have been making investments in houses and apartments in Turkey lately since the currency was in decrease which allowed the buyers to buy these assets almost for almost half of the price which is normally worth. This situation has attracted a lot of euro, US dollar and pound holders which includes a great number of British citizens.
This situation has raised a question: how a foreign citizen buy properties (house, apartment or land) in Turkey?
Foreigners must meet certain legal requirements if they want to buy a house in Turkey. They also need to pay attention to the legal limitations of immovable acquisition.
According to Article 35 of the Law No. 6302, which was enacted in May of the Title Deed Law No. 2644, it is to be said that the application of reciprocity conditions in real estate acquisition by foreign real persons has been abandoned.
Even though it has become quite a lot easier for foreigners to buy property in Turkey with the latest amendments on regulations, it must be underlined that there are also a number of restrictions for foreign nationals when it comes to buying property in Turkey. Although foreign individuals can buy land in different cities in Turkey, this is limited with 30 hectares. However, if this 30-hectare area is more than 10% of the face value of the county where the purchased land is located, the top of the county area will be accounted for as the upper limit of the land size to be purchased by foreigners.
In addition to this restriction, land in the military areas and private security zones cannot be sold to foreign nationals. If permission is obtained from the General Directorate of Land Registry, these persons can own houses and lands in such regions.
When foreigners buy an immovable property that does not have a structure, they have to submit the project which will be developed in the field in order to get approval from the relevant ministry in maximum two years.
Foreigners are required to make a preliminary application to the Land Registry Directorate when they wish to purchase an immovable property in Turkey. To do so, they have to apply by going to the directorate of land registry with a list of documents which would state the location and type of the immovable, their intention, economic potential etc. Investors who are buying real estates are expected to cover an average time of one to two months in general.
In London Legal International, we provide the service of conveyancing where our Turkish lawyers can handle the procedures for both commercial and residential sectors. In this way, you would not need to deal with the paperwork or travel to Turkey in the first place.
For more information and questions please email b.orhan@londonlegalint.co.uk Mrs Burcu Orhan Holmgren is the senior partner in London Legal International and is in charge of our Turkish Civil Law division.
