Buying Property in Türkiye as a Foreigner: A Practical Guide

Foreigners can buy property in Türkiye. Acquisition by a foreign natural person is governed by Article 35 of the Land Registry Law No. 2644, which has not required reciprocity since Law No. 6302 took effect for that article on 18 May 2012: a citizen of any country permitted by Presidential decision may acquire immovable property and limited real rights. Two statutory ceilings apply, and both are in force as at July 2026 — a single foreign national may hold at most 30 hectares (300,000 m²) across the country, and no more than 10% of the area of any one district that is open to private ownership. Property inside second-degree land military forbidden zones cannot be acquired at all, and where the buyer is a foreign natural person a real-estate valuation report, valid for three months, is a condition of the transfer.

Türkiye’s property market draws international buyers from the Gulf, Europe, Central Asia and beyond. The legal framework is open to them, but it is also precise: who may buy, where, and on what terms are all set by statute, and a transaction that ignores the rules can be delayed, taxed twice, or unwound. This guide walks a foreign buyer through the whole purchase — eligibility, the closing process, due diligence, taxes, and the pitfalls that most often catch newcomers.

Who Can Buy: Article 35 and Its Limits

Foreign natural persons acquiring property in Türkiye are governed by Article 35 of the Land Registry Law No. 2644. For decades this provision imposed a reciprocity (mütekabiliyet) requirement, but Law No. 6302 abolished reciprocity for foreign real persons, entering into force as regards Article 35 on 18 May 2012. Today, citizens of the countries permitted by Presidential decision may acquire immovable property and limited real rights. That list is determined by Presidential decision and is not officially published, so eligibility is confirmed nationality by nationality rather than from any of the country counts that circulate online.

Two ceilings then apply, and both are in force as at July 2026. A single foreign national may own at most 30 hectares (300,000 m²) of real estate across the whole of Türkiye; Article 35/2 empowers the President to double that figure, but that remains a power only and the working limit is 30 hectares. Separately, a foreign national’s holdings in any single district (ilçe) cannot exceed 10% of that district’s area open to private ownership — the benchmark is the privately ownable area, not the district’s total surface. Finally, foreign natural and legal persons cannot acquire immovable property in second-degree land military forbidden zones under Article 9(b) of Law No. 2565, which also bars entering, residing, working or even renting there without permission. Since 2012 the land registry has run each property against maps and coordinates supplied by the Ministry of National Defence and the Ministry of Interior (Article 35/6) before it will complete a transfer.

These rules are for individuals. Acquisition by companies with foreign capital established in Türkiye follows a separate regime under Article 36: where a Turkish company has 50% or more foreign shareholding, or foreign control over the appointment or removal of the majority of its managers, an acquisition in military forbidden zones, military security zones or zones determined under Article 28 of Law No. 2565 requires the permission of the General Staff or the authority it designates — a different route many investors take for larger or commercial projects.

The Step-by-Step Purchase

Once you have chosen a property, the transaction runs through the Land Registry Directorate (Tapu Müdürlüğü) where the property sits. Türkiye operates a registration-based title system (tapu sicili), so ownership passes on registration in the state register, not on a private sale contract.

A typical purchase involves obtaining a Turkish tax identification number (vergi numarası); commissioning an SPK valuation report where one is required; taking out compulsory earthquake insurance (DASK); preparing your passport with a sworn translation and biometric photos; and, for a remote buyer, a notarised and (if signed abroad) apostilled power of attorney (vekaletname). A buyer who cannot travel can complete the entire purchase through a power of attorney granted to a Turkish lawyer, who attends the registry, signs, and takes delivery of the deed on the buyer’s behalf.

The real-estate valuation report (taşınmaz değerleme raporu) is governed by TKGM circular rather than by statute, and that circular has been amended more than once. Circular 2019/1 of 15 February 2019 introduced the requirement for sales involving a foreign natural person; a November 2021 amendment narrowed it to the case where the foreigner is the buyer; the position has been revised again since. Whether a report is required for a particular transaction therefore has to be confirmed against the circular in force on the transaction date — with the land registry directorate or your lawyer — rather than assumed either way. Where a report is produced it is valid for three months, and the registry checks whether three months have passed between the date of the report and the date of the sale application.

Due Diligence Before You Commit

The register is reliable, but it only helps if you read it before you sign. Our real estate lawyers begin every purchase with a current title record (tapu kaydı), checking for mortgages (ipotek), attachments (haciz), annotations (şerh), easements, a family-residence annotation and pre-emption (şufa) rights.

Confirm the ownership type. Full independent-unit ownership — condominium title (kat mülkiyeti) — is preferable to construction servitude (kat irtifakı), which signals that the building is not yet legally complete. Check the zoning status (imar durumu) at the municipality and confirm that both a construction permit (yapı ruhsatı) and an occupancy permit (iskan / yapı kullanma izni) exist. For land, establish whether it is zoned for construction or remains agricultural. A foreign natural person or foreign commercial company that buys an unbuilt (yapısız) immovable must submit the project it will develop to the relevant Ministry for approval within two years (Article 35/5), the approved project being annotated on the register with its start and completion dates; failure to do so — like any acquisition made contrary to Article 35 — exposes the property to liquidation within a period set by the Ministry of Finance of up to one year, with the proceeds paid to the rightholder (Article 35/7). Both rules are in force as at July 2026. Finally, verify the seller’s identity and authority, and check for unpaid property tax, utility debts and building-management (aidat) arrears.

A missing iskan is a serious red flag. A building with no occupancy permit may be unregistrable as a condominium, hard to insure or finance, and exposed to municipal penalties — never treat one as a discount opportunity without advice.

Taxes and Costs

Budgeting for the extras matters as much as the price itself. The headline item is the tapu harcı, a title deed charge calculated on the value declared in the deed. Its rate is set by legislation and has been revised from time to time, and contracts commonly re-allocate between buyer and seller who actually bears it — so confirm both the rate in force on your completion date and what your contract says.

Item	What it is	Basis
Tapu harcı	Title deed charge calculated on the value declared in the deed	Rate set by legislation and revised from time to time — confirm the rate in force at completion
VAT (KDV)	Possible one-time exemption on first-hand new builds bought in foreign currency	Conditions are specific — confirm eligibility for the individual purchase
Emlak vergisi	Annual municipal property tax	Depends on property type and municipality — confirm with the belediye
DASK	Compulsory earthquake insurance	Required to complete the transfer and connect utilities
Other	Notary, translation, valuation, agency	Variable

A relief exists for new stock: a one-time VAT exemption may be available to foreign buyers who purchase a new property first-hand from its developer and pay in foreign currency brought into Türkiye, subject to a statutory minimum holding period before resale. Ordinary second-hand sales between individuals are generally outside VAT. The conditions are specific, so before closing have the tax treatment and your eligibility confirmed for your specific purchase, and if you intend to let the property, factor in the rules covered in our guide to Türkiye’s rent regulations.

When you bring funds in, convert them through a Turkish bank, which issues a foreign-currency purchase document (Döviz Alım Belgesi / DAB) evidencing the inflow — useful for the VAT exemption and for any later resale or citizenship file.

Off-Plan and Preliminary Deals

For staged or off-plan purchases, a notarised promise-to-sell agreement (gayrimenkul satış vaadi sözleşmesi), drawn up in “düzenleme” form before a notary, can be annotated on the title (tapuya şerh) to secure your position pending completion. For units under construction, additionally verify the developer’s own title, the building permit, that a kat irtifakı has been established, the payment schedule or escrow arrangement, and the delivery guarantees. Delay and non-delivery are the principal off-plan risks.

Common Pitfalls

A handful of mistakes recur among foreign buyers:

• Under-declaring the value. Declaring less than the true price to trim the tapu harcı is unlawful, and with the mandatory SPK report it is increasingly impractical — the declared value is now tied to an independent expert figure.
• No iskan. Buying a home without an occupancy permit is a structural defect foreign purchasers frequently overlook.
• Cash payments. Pay through the banking system so the price, the date and the currency inflow are all documented; cash leaves you exposed on tax, on proof of payment, and on the VAT and citizenship conditions that depend on a bank record.

Do not send money before the title, the valuation and the permits check out. The register moves fast on the day of signing, and problems that would have taken an afternoon to spot beforehand can take years to unwind afterwards.

Two further points deserve a mention. Property can support a citizenship-by-investment application where the buyer acquires real estate of at least USD 400,000, or the equivalent in foreign currency, with a three-year no-sale commitment annotated on the title. That threshold has applied since 13 June 2022 under the Regulation implementing the Turkish Citizenship Law and is still current as at July 2026; since 12 December 2023 the property must additionally be one over which kat mülkiyeti or kat irtifakı has been established, or land with a building on it, so bare land no longer qualifies. The foreign currency must be sold to a bank operating in Türkiye before the transaction and by that bank to the Central Bank, and the citizenship file itself is handled as a separate immigration matter. And succession to Turkish real estate is governed by Turkish law: Turkish forced-heirship rules apply to property located in Türkiye regardless of the owner’s nationality, so estate planning is best considered before, not after, the purchase.

Buying property in Türkiye is straightforward when the sequence is right and every document checks out — and costly when it is not. Before you sign or send funds, have the title, the valuation and the tax position reviewed by a Turkish lawyer. Checking them beforehand is considerably easier than addressing them once the transfer has gone through.

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Related Practice Areas

• Commercial Law
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