Subletting and Transferring a Lease in Türkiye: Written Consent, the Subtenant's Use, Termination Risk and the Outgoing Tenant's Liability Under TBK 322 and 323

Can a tenant in Türkiye sublet the premises or hand the lease to someone else? In a residential or roofed workplace lease, not without the landlord's written consent: Article 322(2) of the Turkish Code of Obligations bars both subletting and transferring the right of use without it, and Article 323(1) bars transferring the lease itself without the landlord's written consent. Once the landlord consents in writing to a transfer, the new tenant takes the old tenant's place and the old tenant is released towards the landlord (Article 323(2)); in business premises leases the outgoing tenant stays jointly and severally liable with the new tenant until the end of the contract and for no more than two years (Article 323(3)).

This guide is written for foreign tenants and owners in Türkiye. It follows the text of the Code and does not describe court practice or tax.

1. What Is the Difference Between Subletting, Transferring the Use and Transferring the Lease?

In a sublease and a transfer of the right of use, the original tenant remains the landlord's tenant; in a transfer of the lease, a new person takes the tenant's place in the contract. Article 322 of the Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098 (Türk Borçlar Kanunu, TBK) covers the first two, and Article 323 covers the third.

Article 322(1) describes a sublease as the tenant letting the premises wholly or partly to another person. The subtenant's contract is with the tenant: Article 336(2) speaks of the rent the subtenant owes to the main tenant (asıl kiracı). The same paragraph of Article 322 also refers to the tenant transferring the right of use to another person. A transfer of the lease under Article 323 goes further: once the landlord consents in writing, the transferee takes the tenant's place in the lease contract and the transferring tenant is released from its obligations towards the landlord (Article 323(2)), subject to the joint and several liability in business premises leases under Article 323(3).

The label the parties choose does not settle which rule applies: under Article 19, the type and content of a contract are determined by the parties' real and common intention, regardless of the words they used by mistake or to conceal their real purpose. A document headed "transfer" that leaves the original tenant paying rent to the landlord may read as a sublease, and the reverse is also possible. Where the parties disagree, the court assesses what was agreed and what the landlord consented to.

2. Can a Tenant Sublet a Flat or Shop in Türkiye Without the Landlord's Consent?

Not in a residential or roofed workplace lease. Article 322(2) provides that in residential and roofed workplace leases (konut ve çatılı işyeri kiraları), the tenant may not let the premises to another person, nor transfer the right of use, without the landlord's written consent (kiraya verenin yazılı rızası olmadıkça). The words cover leases of homes and of roofed workplaces, and the consent must be in writing.

For other leases, Article 322(1) sets the opposite starting point: the tenant may sublet the premises wholly or partly, and may transfer the right of use, provided this does not cause a change that would harm the landlord (kiraya verene zarar verecek bir değişikliğe yol açmamak koşuluyla). Check also whether the lease contract contains its own clause on subletting.

For usufructuary leases (ürün kirası, Article 357), Article 366 requires the landlord's consent to sublet or to transfer the right of use and operation, with an exception for letting some parts of the premises without a harmful change, and applies the subletting rules by analogy.

Article 339(1), which opens the special section on residential and roofed workplace leases, applies those provisions also to items whose use is left to the tenant together with the premises, and excludes from them the lease, for six months or less, of premises that by their nature are intended for temporary use. Separately, Article 3(7) of Law No. 7464 prohibits the tenant of a home rented to live in from renting it, in its own name and for its own account, to third parties for tourism purposes; our guide to short-term holiday rentals under Law No. 7464 covers that permit regime.

3. Who Is Responsible When a Subtenant Misuses the Premises?

The original tenant. Article 322(3) provides that if the subtenant uses the premises in a manner other than that permitted to the tenant, the tenant is liable to the landlord. In that case the landlord may also exercise the rights it has against its tenant against the subtenant or the person to whom the right of use was transferred.

The tenant's own duty under Article 316(1), to use the premises with care in accordance with the contract and to show the necessary respect to the people living in the building and to the neighbours, continues, so the sublease should restate the permitted use and the clauses of the main lease the subtenant must observe.

The landlord's right of retention (hapis hakkı) also reaches the subtenant's belongings. Under Article 336(1), in leases of immovables the landlord has a right of retention over movables in the premises that serve their furnishing or use, as security for one year's accrued rent and the current six months' rent. Article 336(2) extends it to movables of the same kind that the subtenant has brought into the premises, up to the rent the subtenant owes to the main tenant. Under Article 336(3), the right cannot be exercised over goods exempt from attachment.

4. Can the Landlord End the Lease Because of an Unauthorised Sublease?

Article 322 does not contain its own termination rule; the termination procedure for breach of the tenant's duty of care is in Article 316. Whether a sublease or transfer of use made without the written consent required by Article 322(2) amounts to use contrary to the contract within Article 316 is for the court to assess on the contract and the facts. Where Article 316 applies, it sets out the procedure the landlord follows.

In residential and roofed workplace leases, Article 316(2) requires the landlord to give a written warning granting at least thirty days to remedy the breach, failing which the contract will be terminated. Article 316(3) allows termination immediately by written notice in three situations: where the tenant deliberately causes serious damage to the premises, where it is clear that granting time would be useless, or where the tenant's breach of that duty is unbearable for the landlord or for the people living in the building and the neighbours. In other leases, Article 316(2) allows the landlord to terminate immediately by written notice without a prior warning.

• For a tenant who receives a warning: the period in the notice, at least thirty days under Article 316(2), is the time given to remedy the breach; keep a record of what was done within it.
• For a landlord: the warning is written and states that the contract will be terminated if the breach is not remedied (Article 316(2)); whether a ground in Article 316(3) exists is for the court to assess.
• For both: Article 352, headed termination for reasons arising from the tenant, lists, under the conditions and time limits it sets, a written eviction undertaking, two justified written warnings over unpaid rent, and a home suitable to live in that the tenant or the spouse living with them has within the same district or municipality where the landlord did not know of it when the contract was made; a sublease is not among those grounds. Our guide to the eviction undertaking covers the first of them.

Eviction for the landlord's own need is a separate ground, covered in our guide to eviction for the landlord's own need.

5. How Does a Transfer of the Lease Work Under Article 323?

With the landlord's written consent, the outgoing tenant drops out of the contract and the incoming tenant takes its place, subject to the joint and several liability in business premises leases under Article 323(3). Article 323(1) provides that the tenant may not transfer the lease relationship to another person without obtaining the landlord's written consent. Unlike Article 322(2), this sentence names no particular type of lease.

For business premises, the second sentence of Article 323(1) limits the landlord's freedom to refuse: in business premises leases (işyeri kiraları), the landlord may not refuse consent without just cause (haklı sebep olmadıkça). The Code does not list what counts as just cause; if a landlord refuses and the tenant disputes the reason, the court assesses it on the facts.

Once consent is given in writing, Article 323(2) provides that the transferee takes the tenant's place in the lease contract and the transferring tenant is released from its obligations towards the landlord.

The joint and several liability (müteselsil sorumluluk) in Article 323(3) is written for business premises leases. The liability lasts until the end of the lease contract, and in any case for no more than two years. A shop or office tenant who sells a business and hands over the lease should therefore plan for that period, for example by agreeing with the buyer how rent and other lease debts will be secured.

For older business leases one transitional rule matters. Provisional Article 2 of Law No. 6217, as amended by Law No. 6353, provided that in business premises leases where the tenant is a merchant under the Turkish Commercial Code or a private or public law legal entity, Articles 323 and 325 and several other lease articles of the TBK would not be applied for eight years from 1 July 2012, and that the terms of the lease contract applied to those matters instead, with the repealed Code of Obligations applying where the contract was silent. A dispute about a transfer made in that period can turn on that rule.

6. Sublease, Transfer of Use, Transfer of the Lease and Early Return Compared

The four arrangements can look alike from outside; the table follows the text of each article cited.

7. Leaving Before the End of the Term: Is a Replacement Tenant Enough?

It can end the tenant's obligations, under the conditions of Article 325. Here the tenant returns the premises and proposes a new tenant, rather than transferring the contract under Article 323.

Article 325(1) provides that if the tenant returns the premises without observing the term of the contract or the notice period, its obligations under the lease continue for a reasonable period in which the premises could be let on similar terms. If, before that period ends, the tenant finds a new tenant whom the landlord can be expected to accept, who is able to pay and who is ready to take over the lease relationship, the tenant's obligations under the lease come to an end. Under Article 325(2), the landlord must deduct from the rent the expenses it is spared and the benefits it obtains, or deliberately avoids obtaining, by using the premises in another way.

Whether a proposed tenant meets those conditions, and what a reasonable period is, are questions the court assesses. A tenant using this route should make the offer of a replacement tenant in writing and keep proof of delivery. Questions about the deposit when the premises are returned are covered in our guide to rental deposits.

8. Step by Step: Before Anyone Else Moves In

1. Read the lease contract for any clause on subletting, transfer of use or transfer of the lease.
2. Decide which arrangement you need: a sublease or transfer of use (TBK Art. 322) or a transfer of the lease (TBK Art. 323).
3. Ask the landlord for consent in writing, naming the person, whether it covers the whole premises or part of them, and whether it is a sublease, a transfer of use or a transfer of the lease (TBK Arts. 322(2) and 323(1)); have it signed.
4. For a transfer, record in one signed document the date from which the transferee takes the tenant's place, and for business premises the outgoing tenant's joint liability (TBK Art. 323(2) and (3)).
5. For a sublease, give the subtenant written terms of use that match the main lease, because the tenant answers to the landlord for the subtenant's use (TBK Art. 322(3)).
6. Keep every consent, notice and handover record; if you leave early, put the offer of a replacement tenant in writing (TBK Art. 325).

Each point is easier to settle with the lease contract, the consent and any sublease in front of you. A rent review is a separate matter, explained in our guide to the rent determination case. Our real estate law practice advises tenants and landlords in English, and you can reach us through the contact page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I list my rented flat on a holiday rental platform?

Article 3(7) of Law No. 7464 prohibits the tenant of a home rented to live in from renting it, in its own name and for its own account, to third parties for tourism purposes. Apart from that rule, Article 322(2) of the Turkish Code of Obligations requires the landlord's written consent for any sublease or transfer of use in a residential lease.

Is my landlord's spoken agreement to a sublet enough?

Article 322(2) requires the landlord's written consent for a sublease or a transfer of use in residential and roofed workplace leases, and Article 323(1) requires written consent for any transfer of the lease. A signed document that names the person and the arrangement is the safer record.

If I transfer my flat's lease to a new tenant, am I still liable?

Under Article 323(2), once the landlord consents in writing, the transferee takes your place in the contract and you are released from your obligations towards the landlord. The joint and several liability in Article 323(3) is written for business premises leases.

Can the landlord refuse to let me transfer my shop lease?

Consent must be given in writing (Article 323(1)), and in business premises leases the landlord may not refuse it without just cause. The Code does not list what just cause is; the court assesses it on the facts.

Can my landlord terminate the lease because I sublet without consent?

Article 322 has no termination rule of its own. Whether an unauthorised sublease breaches the duty to use the premises in accordance with the contract under Article 316 is for the court to assess. Where Article 316 applies to a residential or roofed workplace lease, the landlord gives a written warning with at least thirty days to remedy the breach, except in the cases in Article 316(3).

My subtenant damaged the flat. Who answers to the landlord?

Under Article 322(3), if the subtenant uses the premises in a manner other than that permitted to the tenant, the tenant is liable to the landlord, and the landlord may also exercise its rights against the subtenant.