Law No. 7464 on Renting Residential Properties for Tourism Purposes and Amendments to Certain Laws (the "Law") entered into force upon its publication in the Official Gazette dated 02.11.2023 and numbered 32357. The Law regulates the general principles, issuance of permit certificates, administrative sanctions and provisions regarding the legislation to be applicable to the residences rented for tourism purposes, which have increased rapidly in our country and in the world as a result of the search for alternative accommodation in tourism in recent years.

I. REMARKS REGARDING THE LAW

1. Purpose and Scope

Recently, Ministry of Culture and Tourism (the "Ministry") has been required to determine the regulations regarding the renting of secondary residences to real and legal entities for tourism purposes, following the shift towards touristic housing with short-term rentals of secondary residences through rental platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com. In this context, it is aimed to certify the residences rented for tourism purposes under the control and supervision of the Ministry, to record the income derived from renting, and thus to prevent unregistered income. In addition, regulations are envisaged to be adopted for the public interest, such as recording the information of tourists staying in residences rented for tourism purposes in order to protect public order, preventing the commission of crimes, and stipulating sanctions in case of non-compliance with the obligations. Rentals for periods of more than one hundred days at a time are excluded from the scope of the Law.

2. Permit Certificates

The Law defines the permit certificate as the document issued for the purpose of allowing the lessor to rent the residential premises to real persons or legal entities for a maximum period of one hundred days. In order to ensure that the residences rented for tourism purposes are documented and registered, a permit certificate must be obtained by the lessor before the tourism rental contract is concluded and a plaque, the qualifications of which will be determined by the Ministry, must be placed at the entrance of the residence in order to ensure that such residences are known to be certified by the Ministry. In addition, it is required to submit the unanimous decision of all flat owners of the building in which the relevant independent section is located that it is deemed appropriate to carry out the leasing activity in the applications for permission certificates. Thus, it is aimed to protect the peace and order of the other flat owners in the building and to prevent possible conflicts among the flat owners in residential areas.

On the other hand, in buildings with a high number of independent units registered in the name of the same person, restrictions have been imposed on the number of independent units registered in the name of the same person in order to prevent buildings that cannot be legally converted into hotels and similar accommodation facilities from actually being converted into hotels by obtaining a permit for tourism use. Accordingly, in buildings consisting of more than three independent sections, a permit can be issued in the name of the same lessor in respect of a maximum of twenty-five percent. In the event that the number of independent sections subject to the issuance of a permit in the same building on behalf of the same lessor exceeds five, it is mandatory to submit (i) the opening and operation license of the workplace and (ii) the decision taken unanimously by all flat owners in case the building subject to the application is located in residential complexes consisting of buildings with more than one independent section.

The lessor is obliged to obtain the permit certificate. In this respect, the beneficiaries of the limited real rights who have the right to use the residence primarily are also considered within the scope of the lessor in the event that the owner of the property right transfers some of the disposition rights on the residence by establishing a usufruct right or right of construction.

Another important aspect is the prevention of leasing to third parties in order to ensure effective control and supervision. According to the Law, it is forbidden for users to rent a residence leased from a permit holder to third parties on their own behalf, or for the lessee to rent a residence leased for residential purposes on their own behalf to third parties for tourism purposes. In this context, long-term lessees are prohibited from renting through various platforms in order to generate income without the owner's knowledge and consent.

Lastly, the certificate owner is deemed to be responsible for the obligation to notify about the residences for which a permit is issued and their occupants. Thus, it is aimed at ensuring public order through regulations to be made in the public interest, such as preventing the commission of crimes by regularly notifying the persons who will stay in the residences, and imposing administrative fines on the certificate owners when necessary.

3. Administrative Sanctions

The Law regulates administrative fines to be imposed in the event of direct or indirect unauthorized leasing in order to prevent unregistered earnings due to unauthorized leasing and to prevent the loss of income of the state and administrative sanctions to be imposed on permit holders in violation of the legislation. Accordingly, the sanctions to be applied in case of unauthorized renting activities are listed below.

  1. Those who rent out the residences rented for tourism purposes without a permit certificate shall be imposed an administrative fine of one hundred thousand Turkish Liras for each rented residence and shall be given fifteen (15) days to operate by obtaining a permit certificate. Those who continue their tourism rental activities without obtaining a permit at the end of the fifteen (15) days' period shall be imposed an administrative fine of five hundred thousand Turkish Liras and shall be given another fifteen (15) days to obtain a permit. An administrative fine of one million Turkish Liras shall be imposed on those who, despite the application of the aforementioned provisions, continue their tourism rental activities without a permit certificate.
  2. An administrative fine of one hundred thousand Turkish Liras shall be imposed for each contract on those who rent out the residence for tourism purposes rented from the permit owner to third parties on their own behalf and on those who rent out for tourism purposes on their own behalf the residence they have rented for use as a residence on their own behalf.
  3. An administrative fine of one hundred thousand Turkish Liras shall be imposed for each contract on those who mediate the renting of residences for tourism purposes without a permit.
  4. Intermediary service providers that enable electronic commerce and promotion and do not remove the content within twenty-four hours despite the warning issued by the Ministry shall be imposed an administrative fine of one hundred thousand Turkish liras for each residence. A decision is rendered to remove the content and/or block access in relation to the broadcast, section, episode in which the infringement has occurred, and this decision is submitted to the Association of Access Providers for implementation. In addition, in case of failure to comply with this decision, an administrative fine of one hundred thousand Turkish liras shall be imposed on intermediary service providers for each residence.

In addition, administrative fines are also stipulated in cases where the information and documents requested by the Ministry are not sent within thirty days, are sent incompletely, misleading information or documents are provided, the location, quality and physical characteristics of the residence are misleadingly introduced to the user through articles, advertisements, posters, brochures, social media, web pages and similar means, or the conditions promised are not provided, or the residence rented for tourism purposes is allocated to the user for a shorter period than the period specified in the contract, or the plaque issued by the Ministry is not placed at the entrance of the residences rented for tourism purposes.

4. Cancellation of Permit, Audit and Regulatory Authority

The permit certificate shall be canceled in cases where the owner requests the cancellation of the permit certificate; when the tourism rental activity is determined to have been terminated; when the obligations stipulated in the Law are not fulfilled; when the authorized public institutions and organizations notify that the residence rented for tourism purposes is used in violation of public order, public security and public morality. However, the rights of the users of the residences whose permits are canceled shall continue until the end of the contract period.

The Law also clarifies that the Ministry is authorized for tourism rentals and may exercise this authority through the governorships if deemed necessary, thereby clarifying the means of exercising its supervisory authority. It is also regulated that the Ministry is authorized to resolve any ambiguities that may arise during the implementation of this Law and the scope within which the secondary legislation will be prepared is stipulated.

5. Effective Date

The provisions of the Law will enter into force as of January 1, 2024. Upon this date, those who are currently engaged in tourism leasing activities will need to apply to the Ministry to obtain a permit within one month.

II. CONCLUSION

The Law addresses the need to determine the principles regarding the recent widespread use of residences for tourism purposes and subjects lessors who generate income by renting their residences through various platforms to certain obligations.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.