Antalya Real Estate & Property Lawyer

Antalya is one of the places where foreigners most often buy homes in Turkey: apartments in Konyaaltı and Lara, villas in Kemer and Kaş, holiday homes in Alanya, Side and Belek. The same features that make the region attractive also produce a steady stream of legal questions: whether a foreigner may buy a particular property, what a title deed (tapu) actually guarantees, what happens when an off-plan project is delayed, how co-owned land is divided, and whether an apartment may be let to holidaymakers.

Ozturk Law Office advises foreign buyers, owners and heirs on property in every district of Antalya from our office in Muratpaşa, in English and Turkish. This page explains the main rules of Turkish property law that matter to foreign owners, with each statement linked to the official text of the relevant Turkish law. It is general information; the right course in a particular case depends on the land registry records and documents of that property.

One principle runs through everything below: in Turkey, real estate is only transferred through the land registry, in official form. Many of the problems we see started with a payment made, or a contract signed, outside that system.

Buying Property in Turkey as a Foreigner

Under Article 35 of the Land Registry Law, foreign individuals who are nationals of countries designated by the President may acquire real estate and limited real rights in Turkey, provided the statutory limits are respected (Land Registry Law art. 35). The list of eligible countries and any further restrictions are set by presidential decision and may change, so eligibility is checked for each buyer at the time of purchase.

Whatever your nationality, ownership and other real rights over a property are governed by the law of the country where the property is located at the time of the transaction, and the same law governs the form of transactions concerning real estate (Private Int. Law art. 21). For a home in Antalya, that is Turkish law, even if the buyer and seller are both foreigners and signed their agreement abroad.

Property Ownership and Residence Permits

Owning real estate in Turkey is one of the grounds on which a short-term residence permit may be granted to a foreigner, and such permits are issued for up to two years at a time (Foreigners Law art. 31). Since a 2024 amendment, the type and value of the property that can support a residence permit are determined by the Ministry of Interior (Foreigners Law art. 31). Because these thresholds are set by regulation and can change, we do not quote figures here; if residence is one of your reasons for buying, the current requirements should be confirmed before you commit to a purchase.

How Ownership Is Acquired and Transferred

For a foreign buyer, the practical consequence is simple: a reservation agreement, a sales contract signed in a developer’s office or a payment receipt does not make you the owner. Until the transfer is registered at the land registry, you have at most a contractual claim, and if the contract itself is not in official form, even that claim may be at risk.

Before You Buy: Checking the Title Deed

The land register is public. Anyone who shows a credible interest may ask to see the relevant page of the register and its supporting documents or to receive copies, and nobody can claim not to know an entry in the register (Civil Code art. 1020). This is why entries such as annotations, mortgages and attachments must be checked before a purchase: they bind you whether or not the seller mentioned them.

The register also protects buyers. A third party who acquires ownership or another real right by relying in good faith on an entry in the land register is protected (Civil Code art. 1023). That protection depends on good faith, which is another reason to keep a record of the checks made before buying.

Off-Plan Purchases and Build-for-Share Contracts

Many foreign buyers in Antalya purchase apartments before construction is finished. The law is strict about the form of such agreements: a promise to sell real estate, as well as repurchase and purchase-option agreements, is only valid if made in official form (Code of Obligations art. 237). A private contract with a developer that does not meet this requirement carries serious risks if the project stalls or the developer’s creditors take action against the land.

The same applies to build-for-share arrangements, where a landowner transfers land to a contractor in return for apartments in the finished building: because the arrangement includes an obligation to transfer real estate, the form requirements apply. If a contractor fails to start on time, or delays the work so that it clearly cannot be finished by the agreed date, the employer may withdraw from the contract without waiting for the delivery date. If it is clear that the work will be defective through the contractor’s fault, the employer may set a reasonable deadline for correction, failing which the work may be handed to a third party at the contractor’s risk and expense (Code of Obligations art. 473).

Title Deed Cancellation and Rectification

If a real right has been registered without legal grounds, or a registration has been wrongly deleted or changed, anyone whose real right is affected may sue for the land register to be corrected (Civil Code art. 1025). A registration based on a legal transaction that is not binding, or that lacks a legal cause, is unlawful (Civil Code art. 1024). In Turkish practice these proceedings are known as “tapu iptali ve tescil” (cancellation of title and registration) cases. Typical situations include:

• Sham transactions: for example, a gift disguised as a sale. When interpreting a contract, the real and common intention of the parties prevails over the words they used to hide their true purpose (Code of Obligations art. 19).
• Transfers to defeat heirs: transfers made by a deceased person to deprive their heirs of the property.
• Lack of capacity: a claim that the person transferring the property lacked the capacity to act at the time.
• Misuse of a power of attorney: transfers made under a power of attorney against the wishes of the person who granted it, a particular risk for owners who live abroad.

Because good-faith third parties are protected (Civil Code art. 1023), it matters whether the property has changed hands again since the disputed transfer, and later transfers are reviewed before a case is filed. Such cases must be brought in the court where the property is located (Civil Procedure Code art. 12).

Co-Ownership and Partition

Pre-emption Rights Between Co-Owners

When a co-owner sells all or part of their share to a third party, the other co-owners have a statutory right of pre-emption and may ask for the share to be transferred to them (Civil Code art. 732). The right lapses three months after the sale is notified to the holder and in any case one year after the sale. It cannot be exercised in sales under the State Tender Law or in forced sales by auction (Civil Code art. 733).

The right is exercised by suing the buyer. Following the amendment made by Law No. 7571 of 24 December 2025, the judge determines the market value of the share without delay, and the claimant must deposit that value, together with the land registry costs borne by the buyer, in cash within the final period set by the judge; otherwise the share cannot be registered in the claimant’s name (Civil Code art. 734). Contractual pre-emption rights annotated in the land register can be exercised within the period and on the terms of the annotation (Civil Code art. 735).

Holiday Lets: Renting Your Home to Tourists

Many foreign owners let their Antalya apartments to holidaymakers when they are not using them. Law No. 7464 defines renting a residence to individuals or legal entities for up to one hundred days as a tourism rental; single rentals of more than one hundred days fall outside the Law (Law No. 7464 art. 1, Law No. 7464 art. 2).

A residence may only be rented for tourism purposes after a permit has been obtained, before any rental contract is made. The application must include a decision approving the activity taken unanimously by all owners in the building; in residential complexes made up of several buildings, this is required only for the building in which the residence is located. In buildings with more than three units, permits may be issued for at most twenty-five percent of the units in the name of the same owner (Law No. 7464 art. 3). Renting without a permit leads to administrative sanctions for the owner and for anyone acting as an intermediary (Law No. 7464 art. 4). Longer lettings are governed by the general tenancy rules; see our tenancy and eviction lawyer page.

Living in a Residential Complex

Disputes arising from condominium ownership must also go to mediation before a court case is filed (Mediation Law art. 18/B).

Neighbour Disputes and Right of Way

Everyone must avoid excessive effects on their neighbours when exercising their rights as an owner. Causing nuisance through smoke, dust, smells, noise or vibration beyond what neighbours can be expected to tolerate, given the location, nature of the property and local custom, is prohibited (Civil Code art. 737). Disputes of this kind are neighbour-right disputes and are also subject to mandatory mediation (Mediation Law art. 18/B).

Rural plots, olive groves and greenhouses in the districts sometimes have no access to a public road. An owner whose property lacks adequate access to a public road may ask neighbours to grant a right of way in return for full compensation. The claim is directed first at the neighbour for whom it is most appropriate in view of earlier ownership and access arrangements, then at the one who will suffer least, and the route is set in the interests of both sides (Civil Code art. 747).

Unlawful Occupation and Compensation

Owners who live abroad sometimes find that their property is being used by someone else in their absence. The owner may sue anyone who wrongfully holds the property to recover it and may sue to stop any unlawful interference (Civil Code art. 683). A possessor acting in bad faith must also compensate the owner for the damage caused by wrongfully keeping the property and for the benefits obtained or neglected (Civil Code art. 995). In Turkish practice, claims for compensation for unlawful use are known as “ecrimisil” claims and can also arise between co-owners and between heirs.

Unregistered Land and Acquisitive Prescription

Some rural land in Antalya is not registered in the land register or has very old records. A person who has possessed land that is not registered, as an owner, without dispute and without interruption for twenty years may ask the court to register their ownership. The case is brought against the Treasury and the relevant public bodies, or the heirs of any person shown as owner; it is publicly announced, and if no justified objection is raised within three months of the last announcement and the claim is proven, the judge orders registration (Civil Code art. 713). A person registered as owner without valid legal grounds who has possessed the land in good faith, without dispute and without interruption for ten years can no longer have that ownership challenged (Civil Code art. 712). Special rules apply to forest and Treasury land, so the nature of the land is investigated before any claim.

Property and Inheritance for Foreign Owners

Foreign owners are often surprised to learn that their home country’s inheritance rules may not decide what happens to their Antalya property. Under Turkish private international law, succession is generally governed by the deceased person’s national law, but Turkish law applies to real estate located in Turkey (Private Int. Law art. 20). Wills made abroad and foreign certificates of inheritance therefore need to be assessed separately for Turkish property. See our inheritance and probate lawyer page for more detail.

How a Property Case Proceeds

1. Review of the records: the land register entry, the documents behind it, zoning and cadastral information and earlier transfers of the property are reviewed.
2. Mediation: for partition, condominium and neighbour-right disputes, mediation is tried before going to court (Mediation Law art. 18/B).
3. Filing and interim measures: the case is filed in the court where the property is located (Civil Procedure Code art. 12). Where there is a risk that the property will be transferred during the case, an interim injunction is considered.
4. Site inspection and experts: in property cases the court usually inspects the site and appoints experts on value, boundaries or whether the property can be divided.
5. Judgment and registration: once final, the judgment is sent to the land registry and the register is updated.

How We Help Foreign Buyers and Owners