After a 3 month suspension and a heated debate in parliament property sales to foreigners have now resumed.  But the new law does introduce a new set of limitations.

So what are the new limitations and how will they affect new buyers and existing property owners?

Well, the new law forbids sales of land and property to foreigners for specific strategic interests including land that is in the following zones/types:

Irrigation,

Energy  (No living near to a dam or power station),

Mining  (Who wants to live in a quarry anyway),

Religious – No churches etc,

Cultural sites (you can’t buy Ephesus),

Security zones,

Areas of special environmental interest – Areas with protected flora and fauna,

So where can foreigners buy land and property? Basically they can buy within towns and cities but subject to a 10% limit of the total land within these areas. In theory if sales reach this limit within a certain areas no more sales will be able to take place.  However, this being Turkey we expect the rules will be interpreted in a ‘flexible’ way as the local needs suit.

Of course this does raise questions as to how the new law will be implemented for areas such as Didim that have a very high percentage of foreign owners. We will therefore be watching the situation closely over the coming months to see how things develop.