Türkiye's Short-Term Rental Law Changed the Investment Calculus
For years, buying a flat in Istanbul, Antalya, or Bodrum and listing it on short-term platforms was treated as a routine, almost informal, income strategy by many foreign buyers, including a growing number of investors from Uzbekistan. That environment changed materially with Türkiye's short-term rental licensing law, which introduced a formal permit system for daily and weekly rentals in residential buildings. Any investor evaluating a Turkish property purchase today with rental income in mind needs to underwrite this regulation from day one, not treat it as an afterthought.
What Changed : Under the current framework, owners who want to rent a residence for stays shorter than one hundred days must obtain a permit from the relevant provincial directorate before listing the unit. Getting that permit is not automatic. It requires, among other conditions, written consent from all other flat owners in the building or site, expressed at a formal building management meeting and documented in the minutes book. In apartment blocks with mixed owner-occupier and investor populations, unanimous consent is often difficult to secure, and a single objecting neighbor can block the permit indefinitely.
Why This Matters for Uzbek Buyers : Uzbek investment into Turkish residential property has typically concentrated in Istanbul and a handful of coastal cities, often with an income-generation objective alongside residency or lifestyle motivations. A purchase decision built on assumed short-term rental yield can now underperform significantly if the building's ownership structure never reaches consent, or if consent is later withdrawn. Before signing a reservation agreement, investors should ask the seller or agent directly whether the building already holds a short-term rental permit, and if not, what the realistic path to obtaining one looks like given the current owner composition.
Practical Due Diligence Steps
Building Selection : New developments marketed explicitly for short-term or hospitality-style use, including projects structured with hotel-management or serviced-apartment licensing from the outset, sit outside the residential consent requirement in the same way and are generally a safer route for investors whose primary objective is rental income rather than personal residence.
Existing Buildings : For resale apartments in established sites, request the building's management file. Confirm whether a short-term rental permit has already been granted and is transferable, or whether the process would need to start fresh with the incoming owner. A permit already in place, tied to the unit and documented in the site records, materially de-risks the purchase.
Fallback Positioning : Where short-term rental is not realistically achievable, model the property instead on a standard long-term lease basis. Long-term rental yields in Türkiye are generally lower than achievable short-term yields in tourist-facing markets, so the underwriting should reflect this difference honestly rather than assuming the higher figure carries through regardless of building status.
Compliance and Enforcement
Operating without a permit exposes the owner to administrative fines, and repeated violations can result in listings being removed from major platforms following coordination with municipal authorities. This is not a rule investors can quietly work around; platforms have increasingly required permit numbers at the listing stage, which closes off much of the informal workaround activity that characterized the pre-regulation market.
Regional Variation : Enforcement intensity and permit-processing efficiency vary by province and even by district within Istanbul. Tourist-dense districts with a history of short-term rental saturation have generally applied the rules more strictly, while other areas have seen a smoother permit process. Local, current guidance matters more than general statements about the national law.
The Broader Point
None of this makes short-term rental investment in Türkiye unviable. It means the diligence burden has shifted earlier in the process, from post-purchase operations to pre-purchase building selection and consent verification. For Uzbek investors accustomed to more informal rental arrangements in some regional markets, this is worth internalizing before committing capital: the building's governance structure is now as material to the investment case as the unit's location or finish quality. Working with an advisor who reviews building management records and permit status as a standard part of due diligence, rather than treating the purchase agreement as the finish line, is the practical safeguard against this specific and increasingly common source of yield disappointment.