Tenancy Contract in Turkey

The lease contract in Turkey is an official document that you must show when you undertake many government transactions. You are required to show this contract as proof of your residential address, and for this you must make sure that you have a legal contract certified by the notary.

There are also several things that play a major role in the validity of the lease contract in Turkey, and are essential to ensure that this contract is valid and in compliance with Turkish law, and we will learn about them now in this article:

What are the most important items related to the validity of the lease contract in Turkey

The lease contract in Turkey must contain several necessary information, in order for both parties to guarantee the property owner and the tenant, and these items are:

  1. Personal Information of the Tenant and Owner:

The rental contract in Turkey must include the personal information of both the property owner and the tenant, and the personal identification numbers of both must be accurately listed.

  1. Real estate dues:

Attention must be paid to the fact that the property is free of financial dues, that is, all taxes and financial obligations resulting from it have been paid by its owner before renting it and concluding the contract. He is responsible for paying them, not the tenant.

  1. Amount of rent agreed between the landlord and tenant:

The rental contract in Turkey must include the value of the amount agreed upon between the property owner and the tenant, and clarify whether the amount is monthly or annually, in addition to specifying the dates of payment of rent and the method of payment.

  1. Annual rent increase:

A specific percentage is agreed in advance to raise the rent value, and it is written down in the lease agreement between the owner and the tenant.

  1. Tenancy Contract Term:

The rental period of the property must be written in the contract, and the beginning of the period from the moment the tenant receives the property.

  1. Additional financial dues on the property:

It is agreed between the owner and the tenant to pay any additional entitlements incurred by the tenant after receiving the property, such as the proceeds of cleaning, utilities and other entitlements, and this agreement is recorded in the contract.

  1. Payment of security deposit by the tenant:

The tenant is required to pay an amount under the name of insurance in compensation for any damages that may occur to the property, and the amount is often estimated at the value of one month’s rent, and this amount remains with the real estate office that was appointed as an intermediary between the property owner and the tenant.

  1. Signing the lease agreement in Turkey:

 The contract must bear the signature of the property owner and the tenant or their legal representative and hold a valid power of attorney on behalf of one of the parties.

 

How is the process of signing and ratifying the lease contract in Turkey?

You must pay attention to several things before you rent any property, whether residential or commercial, and before you sign the contract between you and the property owner, and we will mention the most important of them:

  1. The property owner must attend in person, bringing with him a document proving his legal ownership of the property (Tabu), and he can send a legal agent on his behalf, as well as the tenant.
  2. All financial dues arising from the property must be mentioned and written, with mention of the person responsible for paying them.
  3. An interpreter must be present with the tenant to explain and explain to him all the terms written in the lease agreement.
  4. The lease contract in Turkey must be notarized at the notary (notary), and the tenant pays the rental contract attestation fee at the notary, and the fee is between 100 to 150 liras.

Note : The ratification of the lease contract is necessary for both the property owner and the tenant, as it guarantees the rights of both and spares the property owner from paying the tax evasion fine that the municipality can impose if the contract is not authenticated.

After knowing the details of concluding the contract, we must know how the annual increase is agreed upon.

 

What are the conditions for raising the annual rent in Turkey? How is it calculated?

We will explain to you some important things and points related to the annual increase in the value of rent in Turkey, in order to face the problems that Arabs and foreigners in Turkey may face.

  1. Turkish law does not allow the owner of any property to increase the rent value unless one year has passed since the validity of the lease contract in Turkey.
  2. The landlord can agree with the tenant on the value of the annual increase in the amount of rent, and include it in the contract.
  3. If the two parties are not mutually agreed, the imposed value will be estimated by TÜİK, which changes periodically every year depending on several factors.

Note : It is worth noting that the rent increase approved by the Statistics Authority for the year 2021 is (12.28%) in addition to the rent value.

The process of calculating the value of the annual rent hike in Turkey is carried out in a simple way, as follows:

The monthly rent value of the property + 12.28% = the full rent value after adding the annual increase rate.

For example, if the rent you pay is around 700 TL, the increase will be:

700 liras + 12.28% = 785,96 TL the value of the new rent.

 

How is rent paid in Turkey?

Turkish law stipulates that the rent must be paid by bank if its value exceeds 500 Turkish liras, where the tenant pays the agreed value within the lease contract by bank transfer, and the tenant must explain the reason as rent dues, in order to benefit from bank discounts on this type of remittances.

Note : Transfer fees are calculated on the tenant, according to Turkish law.

 

What are the things that the tenant is not allowed to dispose of after signing the lease contract in Turkey?

  1. According to Turkish law, the tenant is prohibited from the right to use the property for the benefit of any other person without prior permission from the property owner, and he must obtain written approval within the terms of the contract, otherwise an eviction lawsuit will be filed against him by the landlord.
  2. The tenant is not entitled to carry out any construction works or changes in the shape of the property without a prior written agreement in the lease agreement with the property owner.
  3. If you want to paint the property or make any improvements to it, you will be responsible for the costs of this unless agreed otherwise.
  4. The responsibility for the normal maintenance expenses of the property is entirely on the tenant.
  5. The tenant has no right to prevent the landlord from offering his property for sale or to bring people to inspect the property before buying it.

Let's get acquainted with the cases in which the lease contract is canceled.

What are the conditions for canceling the lease contract in Turkey?

This type of contract can only be canceled by mutual consent between the property owner and the tenant, but in certain cases the property owner can file a complaint in order to cancel the contract concluded between him and the tenant, and these cases are as follows:

  1. If the agreed-upon lease term within the contract has expired and the tenant has not vacated the property, then the property owner has the right to file a complaint against the tenant and ask him to vacate the property one month after the end of the agreed period.
  2. If the tenant continues to procrastinate to pay the rent, this gives the property owner the right to request eviction from the tenant for not paying the agreed payments within the specified period.
  3. If a first-degree relative of the property owner needs to live in the rented property, the property owner can terminate the contract and not wait for the specified period to expire.
  4. If the landlord wants to renovate his property, the tenant is given time to vacate the property.

 

In this article, we have mentioned to you the most important things that you must take into account while concluding a rental contract in Turkey, and we have also shown you the cases that require canceling the contract, and how to raise the rent in a simple arithmetic way.