New details are emerging regarding the previously announced sanctions against homeowners who inflate prices for long-term rentals. Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag explained that now homeowners with too big "appetites" can go to jail for a period of 1 to 3 years.
In fact, it is planned that this period will be at least two years, and that a person who has violated the standards for an acceptable increase in annual rent will be arrested immediately upon detection of a violation.
Recall that last year the government stated that in all long-term residential lease agreements renegotiated on an annual basis in the period from June 11, 2022 to July 1, 2023, the rent increase cannot be more than 25% in comparison with the amount specified in the previous annual agreement.
At the moment, it has already been announced that this period will be extended after July 1; details will be announced a little later. In the meantime, the authorities are working on alternative options; in particular, the option of applying this limit to lease agreements for a period of more than five years is being considered.
In this regard, investigations and criminal cases with imprisonment of up to three years may be initiated against suspects of excessive rent increases, as already specified above.
Nevertheless, the interests of the owners are also taken into account; in particular, it is planned to determine the average rate of rent increase, taking into account the specifics of individual zones of the country. In other words, if the average level of price growth in the Aegean region is 30%, then the allowable increase in rent in contracts may be changed to a maximum of 30%.
Be that as it may, the government promises to take housing rental rates under strict control; after the presidential elections, appropriate legal regulation will be adopted - and implemented a little later. That is, Turkey will create a system in which landlords will not suffer from the discrepancy of market rates with "lagging" official ones, and tenants will not have to pay inflated tariffs; all this will be legally fixed.
Renting out housing to foreigners illegally in Turkey is also not welcome; recently, several owners were fined for this reason.