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WHEN WAS THE NEW LAW ENACTED?
The law on
'purchase of property by foreigners in Turkey' was enacted and published in the
Official Gazette on January 7, 2006.
The new law envisages the followings:
WHO CAN BUY?
Foreign real persons (individuals) and foreign commercial companies from
countries with which there exist legal and de facto reciprocities in relation to
property purchase can buy residential or commercial properties in zones covered
by an Implementary Development Plan (1) or a Local Development Plan (2).
However, those companies which are legal entities can buy property provided that
they operate pursuant to the special laws such as the Tourism Encouragement Law,
the Oil/Petroleum Law, the Industrial Zones Law, and the FDI Law. In addition,
foreign legal entities other than the above mentioned commercial companies, such
as foreign charities, foreign foundations and foreign societies, etc. cannot buy
property in Turkey.
WHAT ARE THE SIZE LIMITS?
The maximum size of total lands/properties that can be purchased by a real
foreign person cannot be more than 25,000 m2. The Council of Ministers is
authorised to increase this threshold to 300,000 m2 per person.
The maximum size of (cumulative) lands that can be purchased by foreign real
persons in a province shall be capped by the Council of Ministers and this cap
cannot be more than 0.5% of the total area of the whole province.
FORBIDDEN ZONES
Foreign nationals and foreign commercial companies are not allowed to buy
property in the military, strategic and security zones of Turkey. In other words,
TAPU offices are supposed to check whether a property that is being purchased by
a foreign national is within one of those forbidden zones or not.
The Council of Ministers is also authorised to determine specific zones to be
preserved such as lands which are strategically very important in terms of
energy, agriculture, mining, history, cultural, biological flora, and national
security. Thus, foreign nationals and foreign commercial companies will not be
able to buy property in those specially preserved zones.
PREVIOUSLY SUSPENDED TRANSACTIONS
The new law also covers the applications for Title Deeds to TAPU offices in the
period between July 26, 2005 when the previous law became void and the date when
the new law came into effect.
(1) 'Uygulama Imar Plani' in Turkish; a municipal plan controlling development
and construction within an urban zone and includes all implementation details
marked on a map scaled 1/1000.
(2) 'Mevzii Imar Plani' in Turkish; an official plan envisaging all development
implementation details for an approved zone that is outside municipal borders
and where all necessary social and infrastructure facilities are provided.
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