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2. You cannot buy more than 25,000m² (6 acres) (with or without a property) of land in Turkey without special consent from the Turkish Government

3. There are restrictions on buying in certain locations for military, environmental and strategic and other reasons - determined by the authorities. Please note: we are looking into new information regarding purchases outside municipal areas and will post a piece shortly

4. Military checks will still take place on foreign purchases, although it is anticipated that the Turkish military will provideall Land Registry Offices with maps marking any restricted areas. This will effectively remove military checks on the land itself but it is unclear if the element of the check which relates to personal suitability will remain in place. We will report on this if we receive any further clarification.

5. You cannot own more than (5/1000) of any designated province

6. The local Land Registry Office regulates all property transactions in Turkey (see a photo of a Tapu (Title Deed) here)

7. A foreign citizen can inherit a Turkish property from another foreigner provided there is a reciprocal agreement on inheritance for Turkish citizens in their country.

8. In principle, although not yet in practice, a foreign citizen can have a mortgage on a Turkish property, in a foreign curreny although interesr rates may make this unattractive for now (expected finalisation of legislation in 2006)

9. You can take the proceeds of the sale of a Turkish property out of the country (see our article on Turkish property taxes - link below)

10. Failure to comply with the laws and regulations may mean having to sell the property and passing the proceeds to the Ministry of Finance

Our apologies for finishing on a negative, but as long as you follow procedure correctly, you won't have any problems. There is one thing to say about "Foreign Capital Companies". These are firms established by foreigners in Turkey using foreign capital and from our understanding, there are none of the restrictions mentioned on acquiring property. These companies appear to be exactly the kind we talked about in the post on property tax and so we recommend careful research to find out if this vehicle suits your situation.

Military Zoning - Army to Transfer Responsibility?

The good news is that from January, the military authorities (the Aegean Army in Izmir for the Muğla Region) were given three months to finalise the military zones (where foreigners can't buy) and pass this information to the Land Registry Offices. This should mean that the backlog from last July of frozen transactions can begin to be cleared - slowly! Thus far, it has proved almost impossible to obtain accurate local information on restricted areas. This information has often been guarded and so open to speculation but in the case of the Bodrum Peninsula, the restrictions invariably apply to areas which 'overlook' foreign territories (Greek Islands) as well as the usual restrictions in place near military bases and police stations.

The main thing to remember is that for the ordinary EU buyer ( we have posted a complete list of reciprocal countries ), you will not have any trouble buying your holiday/investment property. The British embassy has a list of English speaking lawyers on its site but it does clearly state that these are not recommended by them just listed.

Tags: Turkish property law, Turkish property