Owning and Maintaining Your Property

Our guide starts here.......

• Flat Management Law

• Maintenance

• Heating and Cooling

• Leaving your property unoccupied

• Insurance

• Utilities - Electricity water and Gas

Flat Management Law

If you live in a flat their are certain responsibilities that you have under the Flat Ownership Law (“Kat Mülkiyeti Kanunu").

Maintenance

Under Development

Heating and Cooling your Property

Depending on your location you will need some form of heating and / or cooling to live comfortably. In the Winter you will need heating as temperatures are low, and in Summer to get comfort from the high temperatures some form of cooling is required. See our options list below.

• Air conditioning

Uses electricity to provide cooling and heating. Standard units consist of a wall mounted fan unit inside and a compressor and heat exchanger outside. The benefit of air conditioning are:

• that it can be used all year around - heating and cooling.

• relatively cheap if you shop around

• quick installation

• clean

• minimal maintenance

Units are classified on the basis of their heating and cooling capacity in BTU. The cooling capacity is the one usually quoted. The heating capacity is slightly higher on most models. You should choose units to the area they will cool/heat in cubic metres. See the table below for these. Remember cubic metres are calculated as the length x width x height of each room.

BTU	9.000	12,000	18,000	24,000
Cubic M of room	420	540	840	1,000

A 9,000 unit cooling for one hour uses approximately 1 unit of electricity rising to two units for the 18,000.

• Soba Heater - Solid fuel or wood

Soba heaters are relatively cheap solid fuel or wood burning heaters and are favoured by many Turkish families. They are installed in the house for the winter and stored elsewhere in the summer. They are connected to an external flu via a range of piping varying in length depending on their situation. As with all solid fuel burning fires fuel must be bought, carried and ashes disposed of. The heat output from the soba can be very high but is limited to the one room only. A further benefit is that it can be used for cooking and heating water for hot drinks too!

• Wood Burner

Similar to the above but more stylish.

• Open Fire

Some properties have open fires, however, most don't have a back boiler so heating is limited to the one room only.

• Electric Fire

Various electric fires are sold with a range of styles and heat outputs. Expect one bar of the fire to use around one unit of electricity per hour. A clean but dry heat, and many people will try to humidify the air.

• Gas Heaters

Mobile gas heaters use bottled gas. Bottled gas is delivered to your door by most suppliers so the effort of getting your fuel is reduced to just putting your hand in your pocket to get out your money! Heat output is good and many fires can run for around 40 hours on one bar. However, gas fires do burn the oxygen in the room so ventilation is essential.  Gas fires also produce a wet heat so again rooms should be aired every day. Gas fires start at around 100 YTL for a 3 bar fire excluding bottle.

• Boilers

If you want central heating with radiators and hot water together a boiler is your best option. They come in three types:

• Coal/Solid Fuel

• Gas

• Oil

Coal fires boiler is the cheapest to buy and run but does involve messy, heavy fuel and regular cleaning.

Gas is easier and bottles are delivered. However, the heat output from the bottled gas sold is low so more gas is needed to produce heat.

Oil fired boilers provide a higher heat output but a large tank is needed to hold the fuel.

Prices rise to around 2,500 YTL. You need to question if this is a good investment given that you can only use it for a few months of the year to heat.

Leaving your property unoccupied for long periods

The increase in property ownership in the area by foreigners means many properties will now be left empty for significant times during the year. Problems that can arise include:

• Water leaks - water supply, roof or from neighbours.

• Cutting off of utilities due to non payment

• Squatting

• Burglary

• Storm or other weather damage

• General spoiling of furniture, floors and curtains through damp or musty rooms with little or no air flow.

Not only can these cause added expense but also reduce the value of your property and upset your close neighbours!

If you plan to leave your property empty for long periods of time and will be out of the country it really does make sense to have someone look after it for you. Some people choose to use the agent they bought their property through whilst others have friends or neighbours who will provide some basic services.

When you do leave your property the following points may be of use.

• Turn off the water supply at the main stop cock.

• Drain down taps

• Lock all windows and doors.

• Use window and door shutters if you have them

• Turn off electricity

• Leave internal doors open to allow circulation of air

• Cover all furniture with dust sheets

• Put gas bottles outside in case of leakage (ensure you lock to prevent theft)

• Leave keys with trusted agent or friend so they can check your property after bad weather or from time to time.

• Partially empty swimming pools so that they don't overflow with winter rain, and because a completely empty swimming pool is vulnerable to cracking due to pressure from the underlying water table.

• Change the locks when you move into your new property - you don't know who had keys before you.

Insurance

Insurance is known as 'Sigorta' in Turkey. Cover is available from many of the banks and other insurance companies. Cover is available for a whole range of risks. You should at least insure your property for earthquake given the relative risk of damage and frequency of such events. In-fact this is compulsory. Premiums will depend on size, value and type of property, whether occupied or unoccupied and the levels of risk you need covered.

Utilities

Initial Set Up

• Electricity (TEDAS)

To enable a domestic electricity supply to be properly established to a new property you will need the following:

• The electric schematic plan for your property

• Start and finish job file from the electrician

• Stamp duty - Check the value from TEDAS (6 YTL February 05)

• Copy of your passport

• Copy of tapu and building permission

• Meter number from the supplier

To then transfer to the owner or to an new owner in the case of a second hand property.

• Stamp duty - see above

• Copy of passport

• Deed or rental contract

• Deposit - Check the value with TEDAS (approx over 80 YTL)

• Water

There are two forms that must be completed. You can download them here. They must then be handed to the Belidiye who run the town water system.

Forms are being translated currently.

On-Going

Make sure you keep your bills paid to avoid getting 'cut off'.

• Electricity (TEDAS)

If you are resident in Turkey pay the bill you receive from the meter reader during the dates specified. Payment can be made direct to TEDAS at their offices, at many banks or by direct debit from your Turkish bank account. Ask your bank to set up the payment.

• Water

Payment must be made to the water office located behind the bus station for Fethiye residents (other areas will vary depending on the supply method). Generally direct debits are not currently available from most banks, try Halk Bank?  One option therefore to consider would be pre-paying the water account.

• Gas

There is no mains gas in Fethiye. All gas is supplied in cylinders of varying sizes depending on the application - small bottles for cooking and large for heating.

A deposit is requested for new bottles. Please note that if you change suppliers and you want your deposit back the gas suppliers may only pay you back half the cost. It is therefore worth negotiating on the deposit paid and shop around if necessary as competition is tight.

Delivery in Fethiye is quick but may not be possible in out lying areas. Suppliers in Fethiye include MoGaz, Ipragaz and Aygaz.