How does off-plan property work in Turkey?

What is off-plan property in Turkey?

Off-plan property is a home sold before construction is complete, sometimes from architectural plans, a show apartment or a computer rendering. The purchaser commits money now while the developer promises a future unit, delivery and transfer. The legal asset may be a land parcel, a construction servitude entry or a promised independent unit, so the contract must explain exactly what will be delivered.

Law No. 6502 calls a consumer pre-paid housing sale a contract where the consumer pays the residential property price in advance, in cash or instalments, and the seller undertakes to transfer or deliver the property after all or part of the price is paid. That regime is not automatic for every investor, company or commercial purchase. First establish whether the buyer is acting for a non-commercial purpose.

The buying property in Turkey guide covers the wider foreign-buyer process. This guide concentrates on the extra risk created when a buyer pays before the building, final unit and habitation permission can be inspected.

How does an off-plan purchase work?

A safe process separates marketing, legal commitment, payment and completion. A viewing or reservation can happen before the final contract, but each stage should be labelled and documented.

1. Identify the project and unit. Record the exact parcel, block, independent unit, floor, orientation, area, parking or storage right, shared facilities and intended use. Match every promise to a signed plan or annex.
2. Check the developer and land. Confirm the developer’s legal identity, signing authority, relationship with the landowner and the current Tapu record. Check ipotek (mortgage), haciz (attachment), şerh (restriction or notice), shares and any competing rights.
3. Check permission to build. Obtain the building licence, approved project, zoning information and any project amendments. A consumer pre-paid housing sale cannot be made before the building licence is obtained under Article 40 of Law No. 6502.
4. Review the contract before payment. Confirm the legal form, unit description, price and currency, payment stages, delivery date, specification, variation rules, default consequences, refund route, title transfer and iskan responsibility.
5. Pay against evidence. Each payment should identify the buyer, seller, project, unit, instalment and contractual condition. Keep bank records, receipts, invoices and correspondence in one file.
6. Monitor construction and completion. Compare progress with the contract and approved project. Before handover, check the independent unit, common parts, permits, final title position and the application or issue of the iskan.

A developer’s sales office may hold useful documents, but its explanation is not independent proof. Av. Yanatma can review the legal file and the proposed contract before a foreign buyer signs in Turkey or abroad.

What should be checked before signing an off-plan contract?

Is the developer entitled to sell this unit?

The seller may be the landowner, developer, a company with a development agreement or an authorised intermediary. Identify each role and the authority to receive money, sign the sale and complete the Tapu transfer. A company name on a brochure does not establish that it owns the parcel or can promise a particular independent unit.

Check the company’s current identity, authorised signatory, project agreements disclosed for the transaction, litigation or enforcement warnings supplied in the file, and the account to which payments are requested. This is not a substitute for an official company or registry search; it is a checklist for identifying what must be verified.

What does the land title show?

Request current land-registry information for the exact parcel and, where created, the independent unit. Check the registered owner, shares, parcel number, land use, construction servitude, condominium status and annotations. An ipotek, haciz or şerh can affect the ability to transfer clear title even when construction appears to be progressing.

The contract should identify what happens if the developer cannot obtain consent from a mortgage holder, cannot create the promised independent unit or cannot transfer the title on the scheduled date. Do not accept a general promise that an annotation will be removed later without a documented completion sequence.

Is there a building licence and approved project?

A building licence (yapı ruhsatı) authorises construction within the approved planning framework; it is not an iskan. Compare the licence and approved project with the unit being sold, including area, floor, balconies, parking, storage, pool, common facilities and intended residential use.

Unlicensed or permit-inconsistent work can be sealed, required to be brought into compliance or demolished and can attract an administrative fine under Zoning Law Articles 32 and 42. The 2018 Yapı Kayıt Belgesi was a time-limited registration mechanism for qualifying older structures. It was not a universal cure for title, planning, safety or occupation problems.

What is kat irtifakı, and does it prove ownership is complete?

Kat irtifakı is a construction servitude recorded against land for planned independent units. It can connect a future unit to the project and land record, but it does not by itself prove that the building is complete, that every constructed part matches the approved project or that an iskan exists.

Check the unit number and share against the project and the contract. At completion, the developer should explain the route from construction servitude to the final condominium or title position, the documents needed by the Tapu Müdürlüğü and responsibility for correcting differences. The title-deed and Tapu guide gives further context on registered entries.

Does the payment schedule protect the buyer?

The price should be divided into clear stages tied to objective evidence, not only to a developer’s informal progress statement. The contract should state the account, currency, instalment date, receipt, taxes and fees, interest or default treatment, inspection rights, delivery conditions and what happens when a stage is not achieved.

For projects above the size set by the Ministry under Article 42 of Law No. 6502, the seller must obtain building-completion insurance or satisfy other prescribed security and conditions before starting pre-paid housing sales. The provision does not make every project automatically insured. Ask for the actual security document and its scope instead of assuming that a large-looking development has a guarantee.

If a bank loan is involved, review the connected credit terms separately. A bank’s involvement does not transfer the developer’s construction obligations or guarantee that the unit, title or iskan will be delivered as advertised.

What does Law 6502 say about pre-paid housing sales?

The consumer regime provides several safeguards when its definition and conditions apply:

• The buyer must receive the prescribed pre-contract information at least one day before the contract is made.
• A pre-paid housing sale must be registered in the land register, or a promise-of-sale contract must be executed at a notary in the required düzenleme form. A seller cannot demand payment or a debt document before a valid contract exists.
• The buyer has a 14-day right to withdraw without giving a reason or paying a penalty. The notice must reach the seller within that period, and evidence of delivery should be retained.
• The home must be delivered within the contractual period and never later than 48 months from the contract date. Registration of the construction servitude in the consumer’s name together with transfer of possession is treated as delivery under Article 44; that does not remove the need to check the building and completion documents.
• The consumer may withdraw without giving a reason up to 24 months from the contract date. In some circumstances the seller may request specified legal costs and compensation up to 2%, 4%, 6% or 8% depending on when the withdrawal occurs. If the seller fails to perform, the statute restricts charging the consumer those amounts.

These rules do not answer every dispute. The contract date, consumer status, payment history, seller’s breach, notice method and any special regulation can change the analysis. The property-disputes service explains the evidence and routes when a project has already gone wrong.

What should I do if the developer is late or stops work?

Do not stop paying or sign a revised timetable solely on a verbal conversation. First preserve the contract, payment record, promised delivery date, construction photographs, inspection reports, notices, developer updates and evidence of any changed specification. Record the condition of the unit and common areas without trespassing or altering disputed work.

Av. Yanatma can then map the facts to the available route:

1. identify the contractual delivery obligation and any valid extension clause;
2. classify the buyer as consumer or non-consumer and the sale as pre-paid housing or another transaction;
3. check whether a withdrawal, repayment, delivery, defect or compensation demand is legally available;
4. send a carefully worded notice that preserves evidence and does not accidentally waive rights;
5. determine whether mandatory mediation, a Consumer Arbitration Committee, Consumer Court or ordinary civil court is appropriate; and
6. consider urgent protection where a transfer, title annotation, sale to another person or demolition risk makes delay dangerous.

Consumer disputes within the current annual monetary threshold may be taken to a Consumer Arbitration Committee; claims outside it generally go to the Consumer Court. The threshold changes and should be checked in the current Ministry of Trade notice. Consumer-court mediation has statutory exceptions, including certain disputes arising from the in-rem nature of an immovable, so the claim must be classified rather than sent through a generic checklist.

What is iskan at project completion?

İskan is the common term for the Yapı Kullanma İzin Belgesi, or habitation certificate. Under Article 30 of the Zoning Law, the municipality, governorate or other authority that issued the building licence must determine, on application, whether the completed building or a usable completed part complies with the permit, its annexes and technical requirements before permission for use is granted.

The developer should provide the certificate or a clear, documentable explanation of its status. Check the building, independent unit, common areas and approved project against the iskan’s scope. A Tapu, kat irtifakı record, utility connection or occupied show unit is not a substitute for the habitation certificate. Read the iskan guide for the completion checks and the consequences of a mismatch.

What are the local risks for an off-plan buyer in Fethiye?

Fethiye-area projects can involve sloping land, coastal or protected planning controls, shared infrastructure and multiple authorities. A promised sea view, private access, pool, terrace or additional floor must be checked against the parcel’s zoning and approved project. A private title does not automatically authorise construction or exclusive coastal use.

The competent Tapu and permit authority depends on the parcel. Do not rely on an estate-agent address or an old project file. Ask for current records and keep the date on every document. If a municipality seals work, issues a fine or makes a demolition decision, the public-law challenge must be assessed separately from a claim against the developer.

Which documents should a foreign buyer keep?

Keep copies of the passport and identity file, power of attorney if used, reservation and pre-information forms, signed contract and annexes, approved plan, building licence, Tapu and annotations, payment receipts, bank correspondence, specifications, delivery notices, inspection reports, photographs, defect lists, developer messages and any iskan or completion application.

Documents in another language may need translation or formalisation for a Turkish authority. The current authority requirements should be checked before signing abroad. Do not give a broad power of attorney merely because a developer says it is customary; identify the property, transaction, signing power, money-handling authority and limits.

When should a foreign buyer instruct a Turkish property lawyer?

The most useful time is before a reservation deposit, pre-paid contract or power of attorney is signed. A review is also important when construction is delayed, the developer proposes a substitution, a mortgage or attachment appears, the title transfer is refused, defects are discovered or the iskan is missing.

Av. Yanatma works in English and Turkish and can explain the Turkish documents, identify gaps, prepare a defined review or dispute strategy and represent a client through an appropriate authority arrangement. For a broader title and contract check, see the property-law service. For a defined Fethiye matter, use the contact page before a contractual or administrative deadline expires.