Buying Off-Plan Property in Turkey: Buyer Rights, Cancellation and Late Delivery

Buying an apartment in Turkey (Türkiye) before it is built is regulated as a "prepaid housing sale" under the Consumer Protection Law. The developer must hold a building permit before selling, the contract must be registered at the land registry or made as a notarial promise to sell, the home must be delivered within the contractual period and in any case within forty-eight months, and the buyer may withdraw without giving a reason within fourteen days and may terminate without giving a reason for up to twenty-four months (Law No. 6502, Art. 40–45). These protections apply to foreign buyers on the same terms as Turkish citizens, provided the purchase is a consumer transaction.

Off-plan sales are where foreign buyers in Turkey lose the most money: deposits paid on a brochure and a private contract, projects that stall, units sold twice, title that never arrives. Almost all of it is avoidable by insisting on what the law already requires. This guide explains those requirements, the buyer's exits and remedies, and the checks to make before paying anything.

• Building permit first: no prepaid housing contract may be made with consumers before the permit is issued (Art. 40(3)).
• Pre-contract form: a preliminary information form at least one day before the contract (Art. 40(2)).
• Form: registration in the land registry, or a promise-to-sell contract drawn up by a notary (Art. 41(1)).
• No payment without a valid contract (Art. 41(2)).
• Guarantee: building completion insurance or other security for projects above a set size (Art. 42).
• Withdrawal: fourteen days, no reason, no penalty (Art. 43).
• Delivery: within the agreed period, and at most 48 months from the contract date (Art. 44).
• Termination without cause: up to 24 months, with compensation capped at 2% to 8% (Art. 45).

Legal status of this guide. It reflects the Consumer Protection Law (No. 6502) as in force and refers to the Regulation on Prepaid Housing Sales for detail. Thresholds for the guarantee obligation, the content of the information form and refund periods are set by regulation. Last updated: October 2026.

In this guide

• When the consumer rules apply
• What must exist before you sign
• The contract form
• Completion guarantees
• The 14-day right of withdrawal
• Terminating within 24 months
• Late delivery
• Defects and differences from the brochure
• If the developer fails
• Due diligence checklist
• Frequently asked questions

When the consumer rules apply

A prepaid housing sale contract is one in which the consumer undertakes to pay the price of a residential property in advance, in a lump sum or in instalments, and the seller undertakes to transfer or deliver the property after the price has been paid in whole or in part (Art. 40(1)).

Three elements define the scope.

• Residential purpose. The rules cover dwellings and holiday homes. Shops, offices and hotel-concept units sold as commercial property are outside them.
• The buyer is a consumer — a person acting for purposes that are not commercial or professional. A foreign individual buying a home or holiday home qualifies. Someone buying several units to trade or to run as a rental business may be treated as acting commercially, in which case the general law of obligations applies, with fewer protections and a different court.
• The seller is acting commercially — a developer, a contractor selling its share, a housing company.

Nationality and residence are irrelevant. The separate question of whether and where a foreigner may acquire real estate at all is covered in our guide to buying property in Turkey as a foreigner.

What must exist before you sign

A building permit

Prepaid housing contracts cannot be made with consumers before the building permit (yapı ruhsatı) has been obtained (Art. 40(3)). A project marketed with renderings but no permit is being sold unlawfully. Ask for the permit, check its date and the block and parcel number on it, and confirm it with the municipality.

The preliminary information form

At least one day before the contract is concluded, the consumer must be given a preliminary information form containing the matters specified by the Ministry (Art. 40(2)): the seller's identity and registry details, the land's block and parcel, the permit, the unit's net and gross area, the total price and payment plan, the delivery date, the guarantee provided, and the rights of withdrawal and termination. For a foreign buyer this form, translated, is the single most useful document: it sets out in one place what the seller commits to.

Title to the land

Many projects are built under a land-share construction agreement: a landowner contributes the plot and the contractor builds in exchange for a share of the units. The contractor may be selling units to which it does not yet hold title and will receive only as construction progresses. If the contractor defaults against the landowner, buyers from the contractor are exposed. Establish who is the registered owner today and on what basis the seller is entitled to sell.

The contract form

A prepaid housing sale must be registered in the land registry, or the promise-to-sell contract must be drawn up by a notary in the drafted form. Otherwise the seller cannot later invoke the invalidity of the contract to the consumer's detriment (Art. 41(1)).

Method	What the buyer holds	Strength
Registration at the land registry with construction servitude (kat irtifakı) in the buyer's name	Registered title to the unit under construction	Strongest. The buyer is owner; the unit cannot be sold to another or seized for the developer's debts.
Notarial promise to sell, annotated in the land registry	A contractual right, made effective against third parties by the annotation for a limited period	Good, if annotated and followed up before the annotation lapses.
Notarial promise to sell, not annotated	A contractual right against the seller only	Weak against a second buyer or the developer's creditors.
Private written contract signed at the sales office	A document the seller cannot disown against the consumer, but no enforceable right to title	Weakest. The buyer can generally recover money paid, not compel transfer.

The seller may not ask the consumer to make any payment under any name, or to give any document creating a debt, unless a valid contract has been made (Art. 41(2)). "Reservation deposits" and "option fees" taken on a private form before the notarial contract are prohibited. If a seller demands one, that tells you how the rest of the relationship will go.

The private sales-office contract is still the norm in parts of the market, particularly in sales to foreigners conducted through agents. The practical rule is simple: pay nothing beyond what is protected by a land registry entry or a notarial contract annotated on the title.

Completion guarantees

For projects above a size set by the Ministry by number of dwellings or total value, the seller must, before starting prepaid sales, take out building completion insurance or provide the other guarantees and conditions determined by the Ministry (Art. 42(1)). The alternatives recognised in the regulation include a bank guarantee, a system of progress payments tied to construction stages, and guarantees given by a related company or bank.

The compensation and security provided under building completion insurance cannot be included in the developer's bankruptcy or liquidation estate, attached, or made subject to interim injunction or precautionary attachment (Art. 42(2)). They are ring-fenced for buyers.

Ask which guarantee applies to the project and obtain a copy — the policy number or the bank guarantee letter. The information form must state it. Smaller projects below the threshold carry no such obligation, which makes the contract form and staged payments more important still.

The 14-day right of withdrawal

The consumer has the right to withdraw from a prepaid housing sale contract within fourteen days without giving any reason and without paying any penalty (Art. 43(1)).

• It is enough that notice of withdrawal is sent to the seller within the period. Use a notary notice or registered mail, or another durable medium that proves the date.
• The seller bears the burden of proving that the consumer was informed of the right.
• Where the property is bought wholly or partly with a linked loan, the loan agreement takes effect at the end of the withdrawal period, and the lender may not charge interest, commission or other costs during it (Art. 43(2)).
• The seller returns the price and any debt instruments received; within ten days of that, the consumer returns what he or she received (Art. 43(3)).

This period is the buyer's opportunity to have the contract and the title reviewed after signing under sales pressure. Use it.

Terminating within 24 months

Beyond the fourteen days, the consumer has a second exit. For up to twenty-four months from the contract date, the consumer may terminate the contract without giving any reason (Art. 45(1)). In that case the seller may claim only:

• the taxes, fees and similar statutory charges arising from the sale or promise-to-sell contract; and
• compensation of up to a capped percentage of the contract price, depending on when termination occurs.

Time since contract	Maximum compensation
First three months	2% of the contract price
Three to six months	4%
Six to twelve months	6%
Twelve to twenty-four months	8%

The remainder of what the buyer has paid must be refunded, within the period set by the regulation. A contract clause forfeiting the whole deposit, or a larger percentage, is contrary to the Law.

No compensation at all is payable where the seller has not performed its own obligations, or has not performed them properly (Art. 45(2)). Nor where the consumer dies or permanently loses earning capacity and so becomes unable to make the payments, or where the seller refuses the consumer's proposal to replace the contract with an ordinary instalment sale.

After twenty-four months, termination requires a legal ground — typically the seller's delay or breach.

Late delivery

The dwelling must be delivered to the consumer within the period undertaken in the contract, and that period cannot in any case exceed forty-eight months from the contract date (Art. 44). Registration of the construction servitude in the consumer's name together with transfer of possession counts as transfer and delivery.

If the delivery date passes, the buyer may choose:

• To keep the contract and claim delay compensation. Turkish courts award the rent the buyer would have earned or had to pay for an equivalent property for the period of delay, even where the contract says nothing; where the contract fixes a delay penalty, that may be claimed instead or in addition, depending on its wording. Accepting late delivery without a written reservation can forfeit a contractual penalty, so reserve your rights in writing at handover.
• To terminate and recover the price, with interest, and without the percentage deduction, since the seller is in breach.
• To demand performance — transfer of title — through the court where construction has reached an advanced stage.

Sellers usually rely on force majeure clauses. Events genuinely beyond the developer's control can extend the period; financing difficulties, contractor disputes and delays in obtaining the occupancy permit are the developer's risk.

"Delivery" in a meaningful sense includes the occupancy permit (iskân). Without it the building is not legally complete, full condominium title cannot be established and utility subscriptions are provisional. A handover of keys without the occupancy permit is not full performance.

Defects and differences from the brochure

The unit must correspond to the contract, the information form, the approved project and the seller's advertisements. A smaller net area, cheaper materials, missing promised facilities — pool, parking, security, landscaping — and a different view from the one shown are defects for which the seller answers. Advertising and the show flat form part of what was promised.

The consumer may choose among the remedies of the Consumer Protection Law: rescission, a price reduction proportionate to the defect, free repair, or replacement where possible, together with damages. For dwellings and holiday real estate the limitation period is five years from delivery; where the defect was concealed by gross fault or fraud, the period does not protect the seller. Inspect at handover with an independent expert, record defects in the handover minutes and give written notice promptly. The general consumer remedies are set out in our guide to consumer rights in Turkey.

Disputes go to the consumer court after mandatory mediation. Consumer arbitration committees handle only low-value claims and are not the forum for a property dispute.

About to sign for an off-plan apartment, or waiting for one that is overdue? Send the contract and any land registry document you were given. Message Yayla Law on WhatsApp or use the contact form. A title and contract review before payment costs a fraction of a dispute afterwards.

If the developer fails

What a buyer can recover from an insolvent or disappeared developer depends almost entirely on what was done at the start.

• Registered title or annotated promise: the buyer's right to the unit survives against the developer's creditors. Where the building is unfinished, the owners can organise completion among themselves.
• Completion insurance or bank guarantee: the insurer or bank completes the project or refunds payments, outside the insolvency.
• Private contract only: the buyer is an unsecured creditor for the money paid, ranking with all others, and will usually recover little.

Where a developer has taken money for units it could not or did not intend to deliver, sold the same unit to several buyers, or sold without a permit, there may also be a criminal offence. A complaint can lead to seizure of assets and adds pressure; see our guide to filing a fraud complaint in Turkey. Buyers who gave an agent wide authority to act for them should also read our guide to powers of attorney for Turkey.

Due diligence checklist

1. Land registry record for the plot: owner, mortgages, attachments, annotations, and whether construction servitude has been established.
2. Building permit: date, validity and conformity with the unit being sold.
3. The seller's right to sell: owner, or contractor under a land-share agreement — and if so, which units are allocated to it and when title passes.
4. Developer's record: trade registry extract, completed projects, pending lawsuits and enforcement files.
5. Completion guarantee: policy or bank letter.
6. Preliminary information form, received at least a day before signing, in a language you understand.
7. Contract form: land registry or notary — never a private form alone. Have the promise annotated on the title.
8. Payment plan tied to construction stages, paid by bank transfer to the seller's company account with a clear description. No cash, no payments to individuals or agents.
9. Delivery date, delay penalty and what counts as delivery, including the occupancy permit.
10. Technical specification attached to the contract: net area, materials, shared facilities.
11. Zoning and military-zone clearance where relevant to foreign ownership.
12. If you are buying for a residence permit or citizenship, confirm that this unit, at this stage of construction and with this form of contract, qualifies. An unfinished unit under a private contract does not. See our guide to citizenship by investment.

Frequently asked questions

Is it safe to buy off-plan property in Turkey?

It can be, if the developer holds a building permit, the contract is registered at the land registry or made before a notary and annotated on the title, a completion guarantee exists and payments follow construction. Private sales-office contracts are the main source of loss.

Can I cancel an off-plan purchase in Turkey?

Yes. Within fourteen days without reason or cost, and within twenty-four months without reason subject to compensation capped at 2% to 8% of the price plus statutory charges. If the seller is in breach, no compensation is due.

What is the maximum delivery period?

The period stated in the contract, and in any case no more than forty-eight months from the contract date.

What can I claim if the developer delivers late?

Delay compensation, usually the rental value for the period of delay or the contractual penalty, or termination with a full refund and interest.

Is a contract signed at the sales office valid?

It does not meet the legal form. The seller cannot rely on that against you, and you can recover what you paid, but it generally does not give you an enforceable right to the title.

Can the developer keep my deposit if I change my mind?

No more than the statutory charges and the capped percentage. A clause forfeiting the whole deposit is contrary to the Consumer Protection Law.

The apartment is smaller than promised. What are my rights?

You may claim a price reduction, repair, rescission or damages. For dwellings the limitation period is five years from delivery.

What happens if the developer goes bankrupt?

Buyers with registered title, an annotated notarial promise or a completion guarantee are protected. Buyers with only a private contract are unsecured creditors.

Do these rules apply to foreign buyers?

Yes, equally, as long as the purchase is for residential, non-commercial purposes.

Legal basis and sources

• Consumer Protection Law No. 6502, Articles 8–12 and 40–46 — official consolidated text at mevzuat.gov.tr.
• Regulation on Prepaid Housing Sales (Ön Ödemeli Konut Satışları Hakkında Yönetmelik).
• Notary Law No. 1512, Article 89; Land Registry Law No. 2644.
• Ministry of Trade, Directorate General of Consumer Protection — tuketici.ticaret.gov.tr.

This article provides general legal information on Turkish law as of October 2026. It is not legal advice. Each project's title, permit and guarantee position must be checked individually.