Short-Term Holiday Rental in Turkey: Law 7464 Permit Guide

This guide is written for foreigners who own a flat or a house in Türkiye and are considering letting it for short stays, whether through an online platform, a local agency or on their own. The provisions discussed here make no distinction by nationality: the Law speaks of the lessor as a natural or legal person. It covers the permit regime of Law No. 7464 only; tax questions and the detail of the Ministry's secondary rules are outside its scope.

1. What Counts as a Tourism Rental: Lettings of Up to One Hundred Days (Articles 1, 2 and 33)

Law No. 7464 on the Rental of Residences for Tourism Purposes and Amendments to Certain Laws (Konutların Turizm Amaçlı Kiralanmasına ve Bazı Kanunlarda Değişiklik Yapılmasına Dair Kanun) was published in the Official Gazette on 2 November 2023. Its purpose, stated in Article 1, is to set the procedures and principles for letting residences to natural and legal persons for tourism purposes. Under Article 33, its Articles 1 to 6, which contain the permit, the sanctions and the cancellation rules, entered into force on 1 January 2024.

Three definitions in Article 2 decide whether the Law reaches your property. A residence (konut) is any independent unit registered in the land register for residential use, or on which a residential condominium (kat mülkiyeti) or construction servitude (kat irtifakı) exists. A tourism rental (turizm amaçlı kiralama) is the letting of a residence to users for up to one hundred days, for any purpose. The lessor (kiraya veren) is the natural or legal person who owns the residence or holds it through a usufruct (intifa hakkı) or a right of superficies (üst hakkı).

The words for any purpose deserve attention. The definition turns on the length of the letting, not on the reason the guest gives for staying, so the label placed on a booking does not by itself take it outside the Law.

Article 1(3) draws the outer line: lettings of more than one hundred days in a single term are outside the scope of the Law. A flat let to the same person for six months or a year is therefore not a tourism rental for the purposes of Law No. 7464. As section 8 explains, the Law also contains an anti-avoidance rule aimed at the lessor who re-lets the same residence again and again on successive longer contracts.

2. The Permit Comes Before Any Contract, and the Plaque Goes at the Entrance (Article 3(1), (2) and (5))

Article 3(1) is the core rule. To let a residence for tourism purposes, a permit (izin belgesi) must be obtained before the tourism rental contract is made. Article 2 defines the permit as the tourism rental permit that allows the lessor to let the residence to natural or legal persons for up to one hundred days. In addition, a plaque whose features are determined by the Ministry is affixed at the entrance of the residence let for tourism purposes.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism is the authority that issues permits, and it may also exercise that power through the provincial governorship (valilik). The fees for the permit and for the plaque are set by the Ministry; we do not quote amounts here, as they should be checked at the time of application.

Under the first sentence of Article 3(5), the duty to obtain the permit lies with the lessor: the owner, or the holder of the usufruct or superficies right. It does not pass to the guest, the platform or a manager. The sequence is therefore fixed by the Law itself: permit first, first contract second. A residence let for tourism purposes without a permit falls under the sanctions in Article 4(1), described in section 8.

3. The Building Must Agree: Unanimity, the 25 Per Cent Cap and the Five-Unit Threshold (Article 3(3) and (4))

This is the requirement that decides many applications. Under Article 3(3), every permit application must include a decision taken unanimously (oy birliği) by all flat owners of the building in which the unit is located, finding it appropriate that tourism rental be carried on in that unit. Unanimity means that the consent of every owner is required; a majority decision does not meet the condition.

In residential complexes (konut sitesi) made up of several buildings containing more than one independent unit, this requirement applies only to the building in which the unit to be let is located, and a copy of the permit is sent to the complex management.

Article 3(4) then adds two limits that depend on the size of the building. In buildings consisting of more than three independent units, permits may be issued in the name of the same lessor for no more than twenty-five per cent of the units. Where the number of units in the same building for which permits are issued in the name of the same lessor exceeds five, the application must also include:

a workplace opening and operating licence (işyeri açma ve çalışma ruhsatı); and
where the building is part of a residential complex made up of several buildings, a unanimous decision of all flat owners in addition to the building-level decision required by Article 3(3).

For a foreign investor who has bought, or plans to buy, several flats in one development with a view to letting them to holidaymakers, these limits are worth checking before the purchase rather than after it. The count is made per lessor and per building. The only route in the Law that dispenses with the conditions in Article 3(3) and (4) is the exception for high-standard serviced residences, explained in section 10. Our guide to condominium disputes for foreign owners explains how flat owners meet and take decisions.

4. Who May Run the Lettings: The Lessor, or Only an (A) Group Travel Agency (Article 3(5))

The second sentence of Article 3(5) governs who operates the lettings. Where the tourism rental activity is carried on by anyone other than the lessor, those lettings may be made exclusively through (A) group travel agencies certified under the Travel Agencies and Association of Travel Agencies Law No. 1618 (Seyahat Acentaları ve Seyahat Acentaları Birliği Kanunu).

Foreign owners who live abroad may plan to leave the keys with a friend, a caretaker or a local property manager who takes bookings and meets guests. Such an arrangement should be checked against Article 3(5) before it starts. The Law names only the lessor and (A) group travel agencies as those who may carry on the activity, and Article 4(1)(d) separately sanctions anyone who acts as an intermediary in the tourism rental of residences without a permit, for each contract. Whether a particular service arrangement amounts to carrying on the activity is a question to assess on its own facts.

An agency does not replace the permit. The duty to obtain it stays with the lessor under the first sentence of Article 3(5), and the building's unanimous decision and the limits in Article 3(4) are conditions of the permit application itself, whoever later manages the bookings.

5. Tenants and Guests May Not Re-Let (Article 3(7))

Article 3(7) closes two routes. First, users, that is, guests who have contracted with the permit holder, may not let the residence to third parties in their own name and for their own account. Second, a tenant who has rented a residence to live in it (mesken olarak) may not let it to third parties for tourism purposes in his or her own name and for his or her own account.

The paragraph contains one exception: a legal person that rents a residence for tourism purposes may let its own staff use it. That case is outside the prohibition.

Each prohibition has its own sanction. Under Article 4(1)(c), a person who lets to third parties, in his or her own name and account, a residence rented from a permit holder is fined for each contract; under Article 4(1)(ç), the same applies to a person who lets for tourism purposes, in his or her own name and account, a residence rented to be used as a home. For foreign owners who have let a flat on a long lease, the prohibition is worth stating plainly in the lease and at the start of the tenancy, so that a tenant who travels does not advertise the flat to holidaymakers. Our guide to rental deposits in Türkiye covers another point that owners and tenants settle at the start of a lease.

6. Once Guests Arrive: Identity Notification, the Contract Term and the Permit Holder's Duties (Article 3(8)-(9) and Article 4(2))

Under Article 3(8), the provisions of the Identity Notification Law No. 1774 (Kimlik Bildirme Kanunu) apply to residences that have been granted a tourism rental permit, and the permit holder is deemed the person responsible for the notification duty under that Law. The responsibility therefore sits with the owner who holds the permit, including an owner who is not in Türkiye when the guests arrive.

Under Article 3(9), the contract between the permit holder and the user ends at the end of the term stated in the contract. Article 4(2) then lists the conduct of a permit holder that the Ministry sanctions. The list is a useful description of what the Law expects:

failing to send information and documents requested by the Ministry within thirty days, sending them incomplete, or giving misleading information or documents (Article 4(2)(a));
presenting the location, features or physical characteristics of the residence to guests in a misleading way through texts, advertisements, posters, brochures, social media, websites and similar means, failing to provide the conditions promised, or allocating the residence to the guest for a shorter period than the contract states (Article 4(2)(ç));
not handing over the residence to the guest in accordance with the contract (Article 4(2)(d)), and not refunding the payment received within the fifteen days given after that sanction (Article 4(2)(e));
not affixing the Ministry's plaque at the entrance, in which case fifteen days are given to affix it, followed by a further sanction if it is still not affixed within those fifteen days (Article 4(2)(f) and (g));
an inspection finding that the residence does not have the features on which the permit was based, in which case fifteen days are given to remedy the non-compliance (Article 4(2)(ğ)).

Two lessons follow for an owner. Describe the flat in every listing exactly as it is, because the misleading-presentation rule covers online adverts and social media as well as printed material. And treat the booking as a binding promise: shortening a stay or failing to hand over the flat as agreed is sanctioned in its own right, and money received has to be returned within the period the Law sets.

7. Selling the Flat, or the Owner's Death (Article 3(6), Article 4(2)(b) and Article 5(1)(c))

A permit is tied to its holder. Where the lessor changes through a legal transaction other than inheritance, such as a sale, and the change is not notified within thirty days from its registration in the land register, Article 4(2)(b) provides an administrative fine. Under Article 5(1)(c), the permit is cancelled if the new lessor does not apply for the transfer of the permit within the thirty-day period given after that sanction, or if the change of permit holder is approved but the obligations are not fulfilled. A buyer who wants to continue holiday lettings should therefore treat the permit as a separate item in the purchase timetable.

Death is governed by Article 3(6). If the permit holder is a natural person, the permit becomes invalid if the heirs do not apply within three months from the date of death. If the holder is a legal person, the permit becomes invalid when its legal personality ends. In both cases the Law protects guests: the users' rights continue until the end of the contract term.

For foreign families whose heirs may live in different countries, three months is a short period. Our guide to cross-border inheritance and estate planning in Türkiye explains the wider succession steps; the heirs' application under Article 3(6) is a separate step with its own deadline.

8. Letting Without a Permit: How the Sanctions Escalate (Article 4(1) and (3))

Article 4(1) sets out the administrative sanctions that apply when unauthorised letting is detected. We describe their structure and not their amounts; the Law states fixed figures, and the current figure should be checked when a question arises. For a lessor who lets without a permit, the sanctions build up in stages:

A lessor who lets residences for tourism purposes without a permit receives an administrative fine for each residence let and is given fifteen days to obtain a permit (Article 4(1)(a)).
A lessor who continues the activity without a permit when those fifteen days end receives a higher fine and is given fifteen days once more (Article 4(1)(b)).
A lessor who continues without a permit despite the application of both earlier steps receives a further, higher fine (Article 4(1)(f)).

Other participants are fined for each contract: the guest who re-lets a residence rented from a permit holder (Article 4(1)(c)), the residential tenant who lets the home for tourism purposes (Article 4(1)(ç)), and anyone who acts as an intermediary in the tourism rental of residences that have no permit (Article 4(1)(d)).

Article 4(1)(e) reaches online platforms. Intermediary service providers as defined in the Law on the Regulation of Electronic Commerce No. 6563 that enable the e-commerce and promotion of these activities, and that do not remove the content within twenty-four hours despite a warning from the Ministry, are fined for each residence. A decision is also taken to remove the content and/or block access to the publication, part or section concerned, and it is sent to the Association of Access Providers (Erişim Sağlayıcıları Birliği) for implementation; failure to comply with that decision leads to a further fine for each residence. The removal or blocking decision can be challenged before the criminal judgeship of peace (sulh ceza hâkimliği), and the judgeship's decision can be objected to under the Code of Criminal Procedure No. 5271. A Communiqué published in the Official Gazette of 26 July 2024 deals with the notifications these providers make to the Ministry. For an owner, the consequence is direct: a listing for a residence without a permit can be taken down.

Article 4(1)(g) is the anti-avoidance rule. A lessor who, although making a contract of more than one hundred days each time, lets the same residence more than four times within one year from the date of the first contract receives an administrative fine. The exclusion in Article 1(3) cannot therefore be stretched by re-letting the same residence over and over on successive contracts just above one hundred days.

Article 4(3) allocates the power to impose these sanctions. The sanctions in Article 4(1), except (e), are decided and applied by the highest civil administrative authority of the locality where the residence is located (mahallin en büyük mülki idare amiri), such as the governor. The platform sanctions in Article 4(1)(e) and all the permit-holder sanctions in Article 4(2) are decided and applied by the Ministry. Under Article 6, the Ministry has the power to inspect tourism rentals and may also exercise it through the governorship.

9. When the Permit Is Cancelled (Article 5)

Article 5(1) lists the situations in which the permit is cancelled:

the permit holder asks for the permit to be cancelled;
it is established that the tourism rental activity has ended;
after a change of lessor, the new lessor does not apply for the transfer within the thirty-day period, or the change of holder is approved but the obligations are not fulfilled;
the competent public authorities notify that the residence is being used contrary to public order, public security or public morals;
it is established that the non-compliances found under Article 4(2)(ğ) have not been remedied.

Article 5(2) protects guests once again: where a permit is cancelled, the users' rights continue until the end of the contract term. An owner whose permit is cancelled therefore still owes performance of the contracts already made, while new tourism lettings require a permit.

10. The Exception for High-Standard Serviced Residences (Article 3(10))

Article 3(10) creates a separate route for high-standard residences (yüksek nitelikli konutlar). It covers projects containing more than one independent unit whose management plan, drawn up under Article 28 of the Condominium Law No. 634, contains a provision permitting short-term rental; which have areas for reception, security and daily cleaning services; and in which services such as health services, dry cleaning, laundry, transport, meal and shopping services, a gym and a swimming pool can be provided.

For these residences a permit may be issued without the conditions in Article 3(3) and (4), so neither the unanimous decision of the building nor the twenty-five per cent cap and the five-unit requirements apply. The lettings may also be carried out by a residence operator (konut işletmesi); in that case the permit is issued in the name of the operating company, and lettings made in this way fall outside the prohibition in Article 3(7).

Buyers of units in branded or serviced residence projects should read the management plan before signing. Whether the plan contains the short-term rental provision, and whether the project offers the services Article 3(10) describes, decides whether this route is open at all.

11. Holiday Let, Longer Letting or Agency: Side by Side

Point	Holiday let under Law No. 7464	Letting of more than 100 days	Through an agency or operator
Length of each letting	Up to one hundred days, for any purpose (Art. 2)	More than one hundred days in a single term; outside the Law (Art. 1(3))	Up to one hundred days (Art. 2)
Permit before the contract	Required; the lessor's duty (Art. 3(1), 3(5))	Not required by Law No. 7464	Still required and still the lessor's duty (Art. 3(5))
Consent of the building	Unanimous decision of all flat owners of the building (Art. 3(3))	Not required by Law No. 7464	Same as a holiday let, unless the high-standard residence route applies (Art. 3(10))
Limits per lessor	25% of units in buildings of more than three units; extra documents above five units (Art. 3(4))	Not governed by Law No. 7464	Same limits apply to the lessor's units (Art. 3(4))
Who may operate it	The lessor (Art. 3(5))	The owner as landlord	Only an (A) group travel agency under Law No. 1618, or a residence operator for high-standard residences (Art. 3(5), 3(10))
Identity notification	Law No. 1774 applies; the permit holder is responsible (Art. 3(8))	Not governed by Law No. 7464	The permit holder is responsible (Art. 3(8))
Main sanction risk	Fine per residence with fifteen-day periods; listings removed (Art. 4(1)(a), (b), (e), (f))	Fine where the same residence is let more than four times within a year of the first contract (Art. 4(1)(g))	Fine per contract for acting as intermediary for a residence without a permit (Art. 4(1)(d))

12. A Practical Checklist for Foreign Owners

The sequence below follows the order in which Law No. 7464 applies to a lessor, from the land register to the first guest.

Check the land register: the unit must be registered for residential use or carry a residential condominium or construction servitude (Art. 2).
Read the management plan and speak to the other owners early; the application needs a unanimous decision of all flat owners of your building (Art. 3(3)).
Count the units: in a building of more than three units, one lessor may hold permits for no more than 25% of them; above five units, a workplace licence and, in a multi-building complex, a further unanimous decision are needed (Art. 3(4)).
Apply to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, directly or through the governorship, and accept no booking contract until the permit is issued (Art. 3(1)-(2)).
Fix the Ministry's plaque at the entrance of the residence (Art. 3(1), Art. 4(2)(f)).
Decide who runs the lettings: you as lessor, or an (A) group travel agency certified under Law No. 1618 (Art. 3(5)).
Organise identity notification of guests under Law No. 1774; as permit holder you are the responsible person (Art. 3(8)).
Describe the flat accurately in every listing and hand it over as contracted (Art. 4(2)(ç)-(d)).
Keep your documents in order so that a Ministry request can be answered within thirty days (Art. 4(2)(a)).
If the flat is let on a long lease, put the ban on holiday sub-letting in writing (Art. 3(7)).
Plan for change: notify a sale within thirty days of registration, and make sure your family knows that heirs have three months after a death to apply (Art. 3(6), Art. 4(2)(b)).

None of these steps is difficult on its own. What causes trouble is doing them in the wrong order: buying several units before checking the twenty-five per cent cap, accepting bookings before the permit, or handing the keys to an arrangement the Law does not recognise. Getting the order right at the start costs far less than dealing with sanctions, a removed listing or a dispute with the other owners later.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a permit to rent my Turkish flat on Airbnb or a similar platform?

Yes, where each letting lasts up to one hundred days. Law No. 7464 requires the lessor to obtain a tourism rental permit from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism before the rental contract is made, and to fix the Ministry's plaque at the entrance (Article 3(1)). The platform used makes no difference; the Law looks at the length of the letting.

One owner in my building will not agree. Can I still apply?

The application must include a decision of all flat owners of the building, taken unanimously, that tourism rental may be carried on in your unit (Article 3(3)). Without every owner's consent that condition is not met. The only route in the Law that dispenses with it is the high-standard serviced residence exception in Article 3(10).

I rent my home on a long lease. Can I let it to tourists while I travel?

No. Article 3(7) prohibits a tenant who rented a residence to live in it from letting it to third parties for tourism purposes in his or her own name and account, and Article 4(1)(ç) provides an administrative fine for each such contract. The same paragraph also bars guests from re-letting a residence they rented from a permit holder.

Can a friend or a property manager in Türkiye handle the bookings for me?

Article 3(5) allows lettings carried on by anyone other than the lessor only through (A) group travel agencies certified under Law No. 1618, and Article 4(1)(d) fines intermediaries of residences without a permit for each contract. Have the planned arrangement reviewed against these provisions before guests are booked.

If every letting is longer than one hundred days, is the Law irrelevant?

A letting of more than one hundred days in a single term is outside the Law (Article 1(3)). However, Article 4(1)(g) fines a lessor who, while making contracts of more than one hundred days each time, lets the same residence more than four times within one year from the first contract.

What happens to the permit if I sell the flat or die?

After a sale, the change of lessor has to be notified within thirty days of registration in the land register (Article 4(2)(b)), and the permit is cancelled if the new lessor does not apply for its transfer in the period given (Article 5(1)(c)). On the death of a holder who is a natural person, the permit becomes invalid unless the heirs apply within three months (Article 3(6)). Guests keep their rights until their contract ends.

Renting Out Your Turkish Apartment as a Short-Term Holiday Let: The Permit, the Building's Consent, the 25 Per Cent Cap, Who May Run It and the Sanctions (Law No. 7464)