Apartment Maintenance Fees in Turkey (Aidat): Who Pays, Late Penalties and Your Rights

Every owner of an apartment in Turkey (Türkiye) must contribute to the building's common expenses — the monthly charge known as aidat — whether or not the apartment is occupied and whether or not the owner uses the shared facilities (Condominium Law No. 634, Art. 20). Staff costs are shared equally among owners; insurance, maintenance, repair, the manager's fee and the running costs of common facilities are shared in proportion to each unit's land share, unless the owners have agreed otherwise. An owner who does not pay owes delay compensation of five per cent per month, can be sued or pursued through the enforcement office, and the unit can be charged with a statutory mortgage for the debt (Art. 20, 22). A tenant is jointly liable up to the amount of the rent.

Foreign owners meet these rules at two moments: when a large bill arrives for an apartment they use three weeks a year, and when they want to challenge how a complex is being run or what it charges. This guide explains who pays what, how the budget is set — including the changes made in May 2026 — how debts are collected, and how an owner can challenge decisions and hold a manager to account.

• Duty to contribute: each owner; non-use is no defence (Art. 20).
• Equal shares: doorman, heating attendant, gardener and guard costs (Art. 20(a)).
• By land share: insurance, maintenance, repair, strengthening, manager's fee, operating costs of common facilities (Art. 20(b)).
• Late payment: five per cent per month (Art. 20).
• Tenants: jointly liable, limited to the rent, and may deduct what they pay from the rent (Art. 22).
• Budget: the operating plan (işletme projesi) is approved by the owners' general assembly (Art. 37, as amended in 2026).
• Challenging a decision: lawsuit in the civil court of peace within one month; six months at most for absent owners (Art. 33).
• Manager: compulsory where the building has eight or more units; liable like an agent (Art. 34, 38).

Legal status of this guide. It reflects the Condominium Law (No. 634) as amended by Law No. 7579 of 7 May 2026, which changed the rules on the operating plan and on amending management plans in multi-building complexes. Each building's management plan may contain further rules. Last updated: October 2026.

In this guide

• How condominium ownership works
• Who pays what
• How the monthly charge is set
• What happens if you do not pay
• Owner or tenant: who is liable?
• Challenging charges and decisions
• The manager: appointment, duties, accountability
• Large complexes (toplu yapı)
• Rules of conduct and disputes between neighbours
• What to check before buying
• Frequently asked questions

How condominium ownership works

An apartment in a Turkish building is an "independent section" owned individually, together with a share in the land and in the common parts — the structure, roof, stairs, lifts, heating plant, gardens, pools and parking. That share is the land share (arsa payı), shown on the title deed as a fraction. It determines the owner's part of many expenses and the weight of the owner's stake.

Three instruments govern the building:

• The Condominium Law, which contains mandatory rules and default rules.
• The management plan (yönetim planı), registered at the land registry. It binds all owners, their successors, tenants and the manager, and may regulate use of the building, the manager's powers, meeting times and the sharing of expenses.
• Decisions of the owners' assembly (kat malikleri kurulu), which runs the building.

Owners must observe the rules of honesty in using their units and the common parts, in particular not to disturb one another or infringe each other's rights, and must comply with the management plan (Art. 18). These duties apply equally to tenants, holders of a right of residence and anyone who continuously uses a unit, who are jointly liable with the owner for breaches.

Who pays what

Unless the owners have agreed otherwise, each owner contributes as follows (Art. 20):

Expense	Default sharing
Doorman, heating attendant, gardener and guard, and the advance collected for them	Equally among all owners
Insurance premiums of the main property	In proportion to land share
Maintenance, protection, strengthening and repair of all common parts	In proportion to land share
The manager's fee and similar expenses	In proportion to land share
Operating expenses of common facilities — lifts, heating, pools, generators — and the advance for them	In proportion to land share

"Unless agreed otherwise" refers above all to the management plan, which frequently sets different keys — equal shares for everything, or shares by floor area. The plan prevails over the default. Read it; it is the single most useful document an owner can have, and the land registry will supply a copy.

Non-use is no defence

An owner cannot avoid paying a share of expenses and advances by waiving the right to use common areas or facilities, or by claiming that because of the situation of his or her unit there is no need to benefit from them (Art. 20(c)). The ground-floor owner pays for the lift; the owner who is abroad for eleven months pays for the pool and the security. A unit that stands empty owes the same as one that is lived in, unless the management plan says otherwise.

Heating and consumption-based charges

In buildings with central heating, legislation on energy efficiency requires heat cost to be shared largely on measured consumption, with a fixed portion for common-area losses. Water and electricity for the unit itself are separate subscriptions in the occupier's name.

Major works

Ordinary repairs are within the budget. Useful improvements and additions to common parts require a decision by a majority of owners in number and land share; very costly or luxury additions cannot be imposed on owners who do not wish to benefit from them. Urgent repairs needed to protect the building can be carried out by any owner, who may recover the cost from the others.

Where the expense was caused by the fault of an owner or of someone using that owner's unit, those who paid have a right of recourse against the person responsible (Art. 20).

How the monthly charge is set

The charge is not fixed by the manager at will. It derives from an annual budget, the operating plan (işletme projesi), governed by Article 37.

• Approval by the general assembly. Since the amendment of May 2026, the Law states that the operating plan is approved in the owners' general assembly.
• Content. The plan shows the estimated income and expenses for a year of management, each owner's estimated share of all expenses under Article 20, and the advance each owner must pay.
• Provisional plan. If there is no plan adopted by the assembly, the manager prepares a provisional operating plan without delay, which applies until a plan is approved in the assembly within three months at the latest.
• Notification. The plan is notified to the owners, or to those actually using the units, against signature or by registered letter, and a decision on its adoption as it stands or with changes is taken in the general assembly within three months at the latest.
• Cap on the provisional amount. Where an operating plan already exists, the amount foreseen in a provisional plan is determined, with effect from the start of the calendar year, so as not to exceed the existing plan's amount increased by the revaluation rate announced for the previous year under the Tax Procedure Law, and is submitted to the assembly in the same way. A manager can no longer raise the charge beyond that index on his or her own authority while awaiting the assembly.
• Enforceability. Operating plans that have become final, and the assembly's decisions on operating expenses, count as documents under Article 68(1) of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law — which allows the manager to have a debtor's objection removed quickly by the enforcement court.

The assembly meets at least once a year, at the time stated in the management plan or otherwise in the first month of each calendar year (Art. 29). It meets with more than half of the owners in number and land share and decides by majority vote; if the quorum is not reached, a second meeting is held within fifteen days and decides by the absolute majority of those attending (Art. 30). Each owner has one vote regardless of land share, with rules limiting the votes of an owner of several units (Art. 31). An owner may vote through a representative, within the limits the Law sets on how many owners one person may represent.

For an owner abroad, this means two practical steps: make sure the manager has an address — postal and electronic — at which you actually receive notices, and give a trusted person a written proxy for the annual meeting.

What happens if you do not pay

• Delay compensation. An owner who does not pay his or her full share of expenses and advances owes delay compensation calculated at five per cent per month for the days of delay (Art. 20). A management plan cannot validly set a higher rate. Over a year this is sixty per cent — unpaid charges grow quickly.
• Lawsuit or enforcement. Any other owner, or the manager, may sue or start enforcement proceedings against the defaulter under the management plan, the Law and general provisions. The manager needs no special authorisation for this. With a final operating plan, the objection to a payment order can be removed by the enforcement court without a full trial. See our guide to payment orders in Turkey.
• Statutory mortgage. If the debt cannot be collected, a statutory mortgage for the amount established by the court is registered on the debtor's unit in favour of the other owners, on the written request of the manager or of an owner (Art. 22). The unit can then be sold to satisfy it.
• Attachment. Bank accounts, rent receivable from the unit and the unit itself can be attached.
• Forced transfer of the unit. In extreme cases, where an owner breaches obligations so as to make the others' rights intolerable, the other owners may ask the judge to transfer ownership of the unit to them against payment of its value (Art. 25). The Law treats repeated enforcement or litigation for unpaid common expenses as an example of intolerable conduct.

Managers may not cut off water, electricity, gas or the lift to a defaulter, or bar access to the building. Those are unlawful self-help measures and expose the manager to liability. The remedies are the legal ones above.

A buyer should know that unpaid common charges follow the unit in practice: the statutory mortgage attaches to the property, and managers pursue the current owner. Ask for a written statement of account from the manager before completing a purchase.

Owner or tenant: who is liable?

Those who continuously use a unit under a lease, a right of residence or on another basis are jointly and severally liable with the owner for the owner's share of expenses and advances and for delay compensation. However, the tenant's liability is limited to the amount of rent he or she is obliged to pay, and what the tenant pays is deducted from the rent debt (Art. 22).

In practice:

• The manager can claim from the owner, the tenant or both.
• Between landlord and tenant, the lease decides. Under tenancy law, the tenant bears the costs of ordinary use — cleaning, lighting of common areas, the doorman, lift and heating running costs — while the landlord bears costs relating to the property itself: major repairs, structural works, insulation, façade and roof renovation, replacement of installations.
• A tenant who has been made to pay an item that belongs to the landlord may set it off against the rent.
• The owner remains liable to the building whatever the lease says. A landlord whose tenant does not pay aidat will receive the claim — and the five per cent.

Landlords should write the allocation into the lease and ask the manager to copy them on statements. See our guides to tenant rights and to evicting a tenant; unpaid service charges are a ground for the thirty-day notice in the same way as unpaid rent.

Challenging charges and decisions

Annulment of an assembly decision (Art. 33)

An owner may bring an action for annulment of a decision of the owners' assembly in the civil court of peace of the place where the property is located:

• an owner who attended and voted against: within one month of the date of the decision;
• an owner who did not attend: within one month of learning of the decision, and in any event within six months of its date;
• where the decision is non-existent or absolutely void — for example, taken without any meeting, or contrary to mandatory law — no time limit applies.

An owner who attended and voted in favour cannot sue. The action is directed against the manager as representative of the owners (Art. 38). Grounds include defective convening of the meeting, lack of quorum or required majority, a charge allocated contrary to the Law or the management plan, and expenditure outside the assembly's powers.

Objecting to the operating plan

Objections to a provisional operating plan are raised with the manager and are decided when the plan comes before the assembly. Once the assembly has adopted a plan, the route is the annulment action above.

Applying to the judge

An owner harmed by another owner's, or an occupier's, failure to meet obligations may apply to the civil court of peace for the judge's intervention (Art. 33). The judge hears the parties, decides according to the Law, the management plan and fairness, and orders compliance within a short period; non-compliance is punished by an administrative fine. This is the remedy against persistent noise, unlawful alterations, misuse of common areas and a manager who will not act.

Do not withhold payment

An owner who thinks a charge is unlawful should pay under written protest and sue, or challenge the decision in time. Simply not paying brings the five per cent and enforcement, and the charge stands unless annulled.

Facing a large aidat claim, or an assembly decision you believe is unlawful? Send the management plan, the decision and the statement of account. Message Yayla Law on WhatsApp or use the contact form. The time limit to challenge a decision is one month.

The manager: appointment, duties, accountability

• Appointment. Owners may entrust management to a person chosen from among themselves or from outside, or to a board of three. Where the building has eight or more independent sections, appointing a manager is compulsory. The manager is appointed by the majority of owners in both number and land share, and is appointed anew at each annual meeting; the outgoing manager may be reappointed. If the owners cannot agree or fail to appoint, the civil court of peace appoints one on any owner's application (Art. 34).
• Professional management companies are common in large complexes. They are appointed in the same way and are subject to the same duties.
• Duties. Unless the management plan provides otherwise: carrying out assembly decisions; taking the measures needed for the use, protection, maintenance and repair of the building; insuring it; collecting advances; keeping the accounts and records; representing the owners in enforcement and litigation concerning management (Art. 35).
• Liability. The manager is liable to the owners in the same way as an agent (Art. 38): he or she must act with care and loyalty, follow instructions and account for all money.
• Supervision. The assembly supervises the manager continuously and may replace him or her at any time for a justified reason. Accounts are audited at the times set in the management plan or, failing that, every three months, and at any time for good cause. The assembly may appoint an auditor or a three-member audit board by majority of number and land share (Art. 41).

Every owner is entitled to see the accounts and supporting documents. Where a manager refuses to render accounts, overcharges, awards contracts to connected parties or keeps money, the remedies are: a request for an extraordinary meeting by one third of the owners; removal by the assembly; an application to the court to order an account or to replace the manager; a claim for damages; and, where money has been misappropriated, a criminal complaint for breach of trust.

Large complexes (toplu yapı)

Gated developments with several blocks and shared facilities — the typical holiday and residential complex — are governed by additional provisions on "collective structures". They have layered bodies: block assemblies for matters concerning a single block, and a representatives' board for facilities shared by the whole complex, with managers and auditors at each level.

• Expenses for facilities serving one block are borne by that block's owners; expenses for shared facilities — security, roads, pools, landscaping, social areas — by all owners of the complex according to the keys in the management plan.
• Assemblies in collective structures must meet at least once every two years (Art. 29).
• The majority needed to amend the management plan of a collective structure was reduced by the 2026 amendment from four fifths to two thirds, and provisions of management plans contrary to the relevant article are not applied.
• In new developments the management plan is often drafted by the developer, who may reserve management to itself or to an affiliated company for an initial period and fix cost keys favourable to unsold units. Such clauses are frequently challenged; the owners' statutory right to appoint and supervise management cannot be removed indefinitely.

For a buyer in a complex, the level of the monthly charge, what it covers, and who controls the management are as important as the price. See our guide to buying off-plan property in Turkey.

Rules of conduct and disputes between neighbours

The Law and management plans restrict what owners may do with their units. Typical points of conflict:

• Alterations. An owner may not carry out construction, repair or installation in the common parts, or change the exterior, without the consent the Law requires. Inside the unit, works that damage the main structure are prohibited.
• Use. A unit shown as a dwelling in the land registry cannot be used as a workplace of certain kinds without the consent of the owners.
• Short-term letting. Letting a dwelling for up to one hundred days at a time requires a permit, which in turn requires the unanimous consent of the owners of the building. See our guide to short-term rental law in Turkey.
• Noise, pets, smoke, use of balconies and parking. Governed by the management plan and by the general duty not to disturb.

The first step is a written request to the manager; the second, the application to the civil court of peace described above. Persistent, intolerable breaches can ultimately lead to the forced transfer of the unit (Art. 25).

What to check before buying

1. The management plan — expense keys, restrictions on use and letting, the manager's powers.
2. The current monthly charge and what it includes; the last operating plan and accounts.
3. A statement from the manager that no arrears are outstanding on the unit, or their amount, to be settled by the seller.
4. Planned major works — façade, roof, earthquake strengthening, lift replacement — and any special levy decided.
5. Pending litigation between owners and the manager or developer.
6. The land share on the title deed, and whether it is consistent with the unit's size and value. A disproportionately low or high land share can be corrected by court action.
7. Who manages the building, and how they were appointed.

The general purchase process is covered in our guide to buying property in Turkey as a foreigner.

Frequently asked questions

What is aidat in Turkey?

The monthly contribution each apartment owner pays towards the building's common expenses: staff, insurance, maintenance, repairs, management and the running of shared facilities.

Do I have to pay if my apartment is empty or I never use the pool?

Yes. An owner cannot avoid the charge by not using the common areas or facilities, unless the management plan provides otherwise.

What is the penalty for paying late?

Delay compensation of five per cent per month on the unpaid amount, plus enforcement costs.

Who pays aidat, the landlord or the tenant?

Towards the building, both are liable, the tenant up to the amount of the rent. Between themselves, the tenant bears running costs and the landlord bears repairs and capital costs, unless the lease says otherwise.

Can the manager raise the fee without a meeting?

The operating plan must be approved in the general assembly. Pending approval, a provisional plan may not exceed the existing amount increased by the official revaluation rate.

How do I challenge a decision of the owners' assembly?

By an annulment action in the civil court of peace: within one month of the decision if you attended and voted against, or within one month of learning of it and at most six months if you did not attend.

Can the manager cut my water or electricity for unpaid fees?

No. The manager must sue or use enforcement proceedings. Cutting utilities is unlawful.

Can I lose my apartment for not paying?

The unit can be attached and sold for the debt, a statutory mortgage can be registered on it, and in extreme, repeated cases the other owners can ask the court to transfer ownership against payment of its value.

How can I check how the money is spent?

Every owner may inspect the accounts and documents. The assembly audits the manager at set intervals and can appoint an auditor; a court can order an account or replace the manager.

Legal basis and sources

• Condominium Law No. 634, Articles 18, 20, 22, 25, 29–35, 37, 38, 41 and 66–74, as amended by Law No. 7579 of 7 May 2026 — official consolidated text at mevzuat.gov.tr.
• Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law No. 2004, Article 68.
• Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098 (tenancy; agency).

This article provides general legal information on Turkish law as of October 2026. It is not legal advice. The management plan of each building may modify the default rules described.