All the details about European ownership for properties in Turkey

Created: 2022-05-15
Last Updated: 2024-04-26
Views: 1804

Content Index

Are the real estate ownership laws in Turkey different for Europeans from foreigners of other nationalities?
Does the law of ownership differ according to the nationality of the foreigner?
Types of real estate that a foreign investor can purchase
Some obligations that a foreigner must fulfill before buying a property
Foreign Ownership Law in Turkey in 2022
Nationality Law Amendments 2022

It is noticed that with each release of the Turkish Statistical Institute recording the number of foreigners owning real estate in Turkey every year, the Russians have an advanced position in the top five, sometimes they come in third place as the largest foreign communities buying real estate in Turkey, and sometimes they come in fifth place, and it is noticed also that in the top ten, Europeans have a share of 3 out of the ten places: Russians, Germans, English as well as American citizens, as the number of American investors in real estate in Turkey increased by 115.2% in 2021 compared to 2020, according to Turkish press reports, and according to the statistical information of the General Directorate of Land Registry and Land Survey, the Iraqis came in first place followed by the Iranians, then the English, then the Germans and the Russians.

Turkey is the first tourist destination for Russians, as Russian citizens ranked first place in 2019 in the number of foreign tourists in Turkey, with more than 7 million Russian tourists out of 51 million foreign tourists, as Russians are considered one of the biggest investors in the field of real estate investment leading the list of the European communities buying real estate in Turkey, to make Turkey a tourist and investment destination as well.

Some people ask about the possibility of Europeans owning real estate in Turkey and the laws regulating this, and ask about are there any different criteria for Europeans owning real estate, and is ownership allowed for all European citizens or are there certain countries that are not allowed to own, all of these we are going to write about in this article.

Are the real estate ownership laws in Turkey different for Europeans from foreigners of other nationalities?

No, the real estate ownership laws for Europeans do not differ from the real estate ownership law for foreigners in general, although there are some requirements and some restrictions with some nationalities without the rest of the countries such as Greece, Russia and Ukraine, for more real estate ownership laws for foreigners click here.

Does the law of ownership differ according to the nationality of the foreigner?

The law of real estate ownership is applied to foreign nationalities in general, with the presence of restrictions for some nationalities, whether the country is Arab or from the European continent, including:

1- Russia: The Russian citizen’s ownership should not be among the areas located on the coast of the Black Sea, provided that they must extract an approved by the Ministry of the Interior, and he is the right to own construction land, a house and work place only.

2- Ukraine: The Ukrainian citizen should not own among the areas located on the coast of the Black Sea, and must be approved by the Ministry of the Interior, and the Ukrainian citizen has the right to own construction land, housing and work place only.

3- Greece: The Greek citizen must not own properties at the border cities and coastal cities on the Mediterranean, and must get an approval from the Ministry of the Interior. The Greek citizen has the right to own construction land, housing and work place only.

Types of real estate that a foreign investor can purchase

• Residential units: including apartments and villas, where a foreigner can buy apartments or villas in Turkey with all its options and types, whoever in cash or in installments, regardless of the purpose of purchasing the property is for housing or investment.

• Shops and stores: This is the preferable type of real estate for some investors, whether the shop is within a shopping center or in the markets.

• Lands and farms A foreigner is allowed to purchase land in Turkey of all kinds, whether it is agricultural or industrial, or to build a property or factory, provided that the land area does not exceed 30 hectares.

• Mega projects such as malls, schools and hotels.

Some obligations that a foreigner must fulfill before buying a property

1- Obtaining permission from the military authorities in the case of the property is located close to military institutions or is located in sensitive security places such as embassies. The transaction is carried out through the Title deed Department “Tabu Department” directly for individuals, but if it is a company, the transaction must be completed through the governor.

2- Ensuring that there is no debts or judicial ruling of seizure of the property or the title deed of the property.

3- It is not required for a foreigner to obtain a residence permit in order to own property in Turkey.

Foreign Ownership Law in Turkey in 2022

In May 2022, the Turkish government issued a package of decisions, including:

1- A foreigner who want to obtain real estate residency in Turkey by purchasing a property must have a property with value 50 thousand dollars or more in small cities, and with value 75 thousand dollars in the major states, including Antalya, Istanbul, Ankara and Aiden.

2- The amount of Turkish citizenship has been amended to be $400,000 instead of $250,000, provided that the decision will be implemented starting from June 2022.

These decisions were in turn of a group of decisions made by the Turkish government, which it had initiated after what the country witnessed during the last quarter of 2021, specifically in the period from September 23 to December 16, Turkish Central Bank made 4 successive decisions that led to reducing interest from 19% to 14%, decisions that led to fluctuations in the exchange rate of the Turkish lira and the black market had been flowered, and many investors withdrew their financial deposits from the banks, in particular, dollar deposits. In turn, the Turkish government issued Article no 13, which obliges foreigners to exchange foreign currencies with the Turkish Central Bank when buying a property in Turkey, through foreign exchange of foreign currencies when buying a property with banks operating in Turkey, which in turn dispose of it with the Turkish Central Bank, and pay its value in Turkish lira to the person concerned, before starting the transactions of transferring ownership of the property in the title deed “Tapu” Department, through the foreign currency purchase document “Döviz Alım Belgesi”, a mandatory document that proves (exchange of foreign currency exclusively in the Central Bank) It is done through one of the banks operating in Turkey, before completing the purchase of the property.

Nationality Law Amendments 2022

Recently, the Turkish government changed some conditions for obtaining Turkish citizenship for foreigners in an attempt to support its national currency, the lira. Turkish government noticed during the past four years, some investors were able to manipulate the conditions of obtaining citizenship and circumvent them in twisted and illegal ways to obtain citizenship. Therefore, among the recent amendments made by the state were:

1- It is forbidden to recycle the property or sell it to a Turkish person and then resell it to another investor of the same nationality, as it was previously possible to sell it to a Turkish person and resell it to a person of the first investor’s nationality after obtaining Turkish citizenship, i.e. after 3 years, but now it must Selling to a Turkish person and an investor of another nationality so that the new investor can obtain Turkish citizenship as well.

2- The property can be sold after obtaining Turkish citizenship after 3 years of purchasing to a Turkish person or a foreigner directly, but the foreigner - the new investor - will not be able to submit it to obtain Turkish citizenship even if he is a relative, friend or of another nationality. It is mean that is, a foreigner can invest in the new property, but he will not obtain Turkish citizenship unless it is sold to a Turkish citizen and then to a foreigner, and the foreigner should have a different nationality other than the nationality of the first investor.

3- When buying a property for the purpose of obtain Turkish citizenship for an amount of 400 thousand dollars, it is not allowed to you to resell the property after obtaining Turkish citizenship after 3 years to the same person who sold you the same property, that is, the property cannot be resold to the original owner, whether this owner is a person or a company.

4- When applying for Turkish citizenship or after obtaining it, when you discover a deficiency or forgery in identification papers or any required files that can withdraw Turkish citizenship from you even after you obtain it.

5- In the case of the sale or the preliminary sale agreement, the pledge shall be made according to the following: “I pledge that I will not sell these real estate that I have purchased to obtain Turkish citizenship within the scope of Article 20 of the Regulation for the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law for a period of 3 years and if it is found that the information and documents that will be provided upon implementation Incomplete, incorrect or misleading based on Article 31 of the Turkish Citizenship Law No. 5901 on Acquisition of Turkish Citizenship, and if it occurs as a result of false declaration to the person concerned or concealment of important matters that form the basis of obtaining citizenship, it will be canceled by the authority that made the decision.” The phrase "I know that actions will be taken by the relevant authorities".

6- Real estate that has been transferred to a Turkish citizen or company of Turkish origin after January 12, 2017 and is subject to the law of obtaining Turkish citizenship by sale or preliminary sale contract, must not have any record in the name of the investor who wants to obtain citizenship for his wife/husband, child or applicant Another (the investor) of the same nationality, however in this case only another investor with a different nationality can subject this property to obtaining Turkish citizenship.

7- The real estate subject to sale or the preliminary sale agreement must not be registered in the name of the legal entity where the applicant (the investor) who will purchase the real estate by himself or his wife or children is a partner, manager, or on behalf of the company subject to Article 36 of the Land Registry Law (with a capital foreign/international) where the real person of the same nationality is a partner and through this regulation it is planned to prevent the purchase of a property from a legal entity by another legal entity of the same nationality.

On May 13, 2022, the Turkish government issued a decision to raise the amount of obtaining Turkish citizenship through the purchase of real estate to a value of 400,000 dollars instead of 250,000 dollars. The decision has been implemented starting in June 2022.

The investor has the right to buy a real estate or several properties with the new amount of $400,000 in order to obtain citizenship, provided that the investor must keep the property for 3 years and he mustn’t sell the property he purchased for the purpose of citizenship before 3 years from the date of purchasing. For more information about the Turkish citizenship law and its conditions, click here.

At Ramzy Real Estate Company, we are glad to accompany you on the journey of buying property in Turkey and to provide you with a range of services to make the process smooth and easy , as we are always keen to present a variety of options for residential and investment properties in addition to helping you obtain Turkish citizenship for those looking for it.
Our services:
- Legal advice .
- Property Management.
- After-sales services .
- Legal services and obtaining Turkish citizenship.
- Buying and selling real estate in Turkey.
- For more details, you can contact us via the communication platforms or via the WhatsApp attached on the site.