Real estate ownership law in Turkey 2022

Created: 2022-03-31
Last Updated: 2025-12-17
Views: 4867

Turkish government was keening to attract international investors to transfer their business and trade to Turkey, it realized that one of the best ways of attracting investments is real estate investment, which was already there but it wasn’t satisfied as it was targeted, and there were leading countries in real estate investments such as London, Hong Kong, Paris, Miami, Dubai and other cities that were able to achieve huge profits in a record time, which prompted them to make legal reforms in investment laws, especially real estate investment.

The state amended the real estate ownership law, in the beginning it repeal the reciprocity law, which stipulated that “any foreigner has the right to own real estate in Turkey, except for citizens of a few countries for political reasons, such as Syrians.”, Before that, the law allowed foreigners ownership in case of his country agreed to the purchase of real estate units by the Turks as well, but in 2012 this law was amended to allow all nationalities to own property without the necessity that their countries allow the ownership of Turks or not, with the exception of the Syrians who are not allowed to buy real estate in Turkey except by establishing a company, the state has also set some requirements for some nationalities in the border and maritime areas, such as the Greeks and Russians, and on the type of real estate such as agricultural land, as is the case with Egyptians, without specifying a minimum or maximum value of the property.

As for the Turkish citizenship law through real estate investment, it remained as it is, as the foreigner has the right to obtain Turkish citizenship if he buys a property with a minimum value of one million dollars, or its equivalent in Turkish lira, this law remained till 2018, when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made some reforms to The Nationality Law , as he amended the minimum value of the property to be 250 thousand dollars or its equivalent in Turkish lira, with the stipulation that the property should be kept for 3 years and not selling it before that.

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 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 250 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.

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.

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For choosing the most suitable property

Real estate ownership law in Turkey 2022

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