Buying Off-Plan Property in Turkey: What to Check

Before buying off-plan in Turkey, confirm three things: the project has a building permit, the contract is either registered at the land registry with the condominium easement or made as a notarised promise-to-sell contract, and you received a pre-contract information form at least one day before signing. Turkish consumer law then gives you a 14-day cooling-off period, a right to exit for up to 24 months, and a 48-month ceiling on delivery. The developer’s track record and the project’s guarantee structure are what turn these rights into real protection.

What the law calls an off-plan sale

Turkish law treats an off-plan purchase as a pre-paid housing sale contract: the buyer pays the price in advance, in full or in instalments, and the seller transfers or delivers the home after all or part of the price is paid (Law No. 6502, Art. 40). The details are set out in the Regulation on Pre-Paid Housing Sales.

These protections apply to a “consumer”, meaning a buyer acting for non-commercial, non-professional purposes. A foreign national buying a home for personal or family use can fall within that definition.

Permit, easement and occupancy: the three documents

Document	What it is	Why it matters
Building permit (yapı ruhsatı)	Construction licence from the municipality or governorship (Zoning Law No. 3194, Art. 21)	No pre-paid sale contract may be made with a consumer before it is issued
Condominium easement (kat irtifakı)	A right tied to a land share on a building not yet completed, which later converts to full condominium ownership (Condominium Law No. 634, Art. 14)	It identifies your specific unit on the land register
Occupancy permit (yapı kullanma izni, often called iskân)	Confirmation that the building was completed in line with its permit (Zoning Law, Art. 30)	The easement converts into full condominium ownership on the basis of the occupancy permit for the whole building

In practice, ask: when and for which parcel was the permit issued? Has the condominium easement been registered? How will the occupancy permit and the conversion to full ownership be handled at handover? The regulation requires the permit date to appear in both the information form and the contract.

Before you sign: the pre-contract information form

The seller must give you a pre-contract information form at least one day before the contract, in writing or on a durable medium. It must include, among other things:

• the seller’s name, address and, where applicable, MERSİS (trade registry) number,
• the block, parcel, floor and the net and gross area of the unit,
• the total cash and instalment price in Turkish lira, all taxes included,
• withdrawal and exit rights, delivery date, guarantee details and the building permit date,
• your share of common expenses under the management plan.

You should also receive the unit plan, site plan, floor plan and specification list, and, if the guarantee is building completion insurance, the insurer’s key-terms form. The burden of proving that you were informed lies with the seller.

Form requirements: notary or land registry

An off-plan sale must either be registered at the land registry or made as a promise-to-sell contract drawn up by a notary (Law No. 6502, Art. 41). The regulation describes the first option as a written contract made together with registration of the condominium easement in the buyer’s favour. If these formalities are skipped, the seller cannot later rely on the contract’s invalidity against you. The seller also cannot ask for any payment, or for you to sign any debt instrument, before a valid contract exists.

Being asked to pay under an informal “reservation agreement” or “pre-protocol” is therefore a warning sign.

Withdrawal and exit rights

14-day withdrawal: you can withdraw within 14 days of the contract without giving a reason and without a penalty. Sending notice to the seller through a notary within that period is sufficient. Your money must be returned within 14 days of the seller receiving the notice.

Exit within 24 months: for up to 24 months from the contract date you can terminate without giving a reason. The seller may claim statutory costs such as taxes and fees, plus compensation of up to (as of October 2026):

Time since signing	Maximum compensation (share of contract price)
First 3 months	2%
3–6 months	4%
6–12 months	6%
12–24 months	8%

Refunds are due within 180 days of the seller receiving the exit notice. If the seller fails to perform its obligations, or sells the same home to more than one buyer, you can exit until transfer or delivery without paying anything.

Design changes: any later change to the project must be notified to you in writing. If you do not accept it, you can exit within one month at no cost; where the change results from a legal requirement or force majeure, the seller may deduct amounts based on the regulation’s cost and compensation scale.

Guarantees: what if the developer fails?

For projects with 30 or more homes, the seller must, before starting sales, take out building completion insurance or provide at least one of the following:

• Bank letter of guarantee: if the seller fails to deliver, the amount you paid can be claimed from the bank on first demand.
• Progress-payment system: payments go into a blocked bank account and are released to the developer in line with construction progress.
• Linked mortgage loan: the loan amount counts as secured; any amount above it must be guaranteed separately.

Payouts under building completion insurance cannot be included in a bankruptcy estate and cannot be seized. The contract must state which guarantee applies, so read that clause carefully.

Delivery deadlines and delays

The home must be delivered within the period promised in the contract and in any case no later than 48 months from the contract date (Law No. 6502, Art. 44; the matching regulation provision has applied since 1 October 2022). Registration of a completed unit in your name, or registration of the easement together with handover of a habitable home, counts as delivery.

If delivery is late, check the contract’s delay provisions and your right to exit at no cost when the seller fails to perform. The contract must also tell you that disputes can be taken to a consumer arbitration committee or consumer court.

Checking the developer

However strong the legal framework, choosing the right developer is the first line of defence:

• projects it has already delivered, and whether they received occupancy permits,
• for listed companies, disclosures and financial statements on KAP (the Public Disclosure Platform),
• whether the trade registry name, shareholders and address match the contract,
• whether payments go to the bank account named in the contract.

Notes for overseas buyers

• Every foreign individual buying property must convert the purchase price at a bank and present a Foreign Exchange Purchase Certificate (DAB).
• On the first delivery of a newly built home, sales to foreign individuals not resident in Türkiye are VAT-exempt provided the price is brought in as foreign currency; if the home is sold within three years, the uncollected VAT becomes payable.
• If citizenship is your goal, buying under a promise-to-sell contract qualifies only where condominium easement is established and the full USD 400,000 is paid upfront under a single notarised contract. See our invest in Turkey property page for more.

Examples from our portfolio

We can look at both projects under construction and completed ones with you. Our portfolio includes Seba Reserve in Eyüpsultan and Seba Center Residences in Sarıyer, Istanbul; DAP Çeşme and Folkart Vega in İzmir; and Sirius Level in Aksu, Antalya. We check permit and title status unit by unit. Browse the full selection on our projects page.

Working with NeoKonut

Once you leave a request, one of our consultants will call you and review the permit, easement and contract documents with you. We also work on projects outside our listed portfolio. The first consultation is free of charge.

This article is for general information only; please seek legal and tax advice specific to your transaction.