Foreign buyers line up to purchase houses in Turkey

Wealthy people from the Middle East are lining up at the doors of real estate agents to buy houses in Turkey, Environment and Urban Development Minister Erdoğan Bayraktar said on Tuesday.

As stated by the minister in Trabzon following a meeting on Sunday, rich buyers from countries such as Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have made down payments to contractors and real estate agents in order to be able to own a house Turkey, despite the fact a bill that will facilitate the sale of land to foreigners has not yet been passed by Parliament. The construction and real estate sectors have high hopes for the bill, which will amend title deed laws and change the current reciprocity requirement which dictates that citizens of 89 countries currently do not have the right to own property in Turkey because Turkish nationals are not entitled to own property in their home countries. Currently these countries include Russia, the Gulf countries and the Turkic states of Central Asia. If the bill, which introduces new regulations concerning the sale of property to foreigners, is passed by Parliament, it will facilitate the acquisition of real estate by foreigners.

Bayraktar noted that if the bill is approved it will provide an enormous amount of capital to the economy, as interest in the Turkish property market has grown since the prospective buyers heard about the bill. He said, “The regulations contained in the bill are now even more important because some buyers have already made down payments in provinces such as Istanbul and Bursa.” With the bill, the limit on foreign buyers being able to purchase 2.5 hectares of vacant land will be increased to 30 hectares, and buyers will have to comply with a condition to provide plans for the construction of a house on the land before they make the purchase. Construction sector representatives say the change in the reciprocity agreement will pave the way for them to sell 1 million properties.

Meanwhile Bayraktar informed the press on the further details of an urban transformation project that aims to improve shanty settlements and buildings that are vulnerable to earthquakes. He explained the occupants of these vulnerable buildings will be provided rental subsidies and that new houses will be built in the style of housing complexes, with parks and recreation areas incorporated into the design. When a two-thirds majority is secured from the owners of a property slated for urban transformation, the remaining owners’ consent will not be sought, he said.

However, the introduction of this law has raised concerns among some due to its environmental drawbacks. Critics argue that the bill will enable the construction of many buildings without any determination of how many are needed, which will create an urbanization problem due to the excessive amount of construction without any detailed infrastructure planning, in addition to the encroachment of developments on green spaces, leaving residents with less spaceto support their recreational activities. <Cihan/Todays Zaman>

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