Is it possible to change the type of property in Turkey from commercial to residential or vice versa and how is it done?

Foreign investors who want to double their capital in Turkey go directly to buying property in Turkey and in particular commercial ones as the most short path towards a guaranteed quick profit in a country which is economic strength is growing daily, but after a period of time the plan of the owners in Turkey may change for various reasons according to their needs, then they need to convert their property in Turkey from commercial to residential or vice versa for example if a foreign investor decides to establish a profitable commercial project so he think of using his residential property by converting it to commercial, is this step possible in Turkey, and if it is possible how is it done and does it take time?

As previously mentioned, some owners of commercial property in Turkey, such as offices and shops, may find themselves before buying property in Turkey in front of a mandatory change of their commercial property record to residential real estate or vice versa, so it should be noted that the process despite its ease, it requires relatively long time and caution to avoid the owner any subsequent problems with the owners of the building in which the property is located where it is obligated to persuade all owners of the rest of the offices, shops or apartments in the building in order to obtain their approval to start the process of converting the type of property on the title deed.

The required documents to change the type of property in Turkey

Anyone wishing to change the type of property in the Turkish Land Registry Department must submit the following documents to the relevant authorities:

• The title deed of the property whose owner wishes to change its type at the Land Registry Department.
• An original copy of the identity card of the property owner.
• A personal photo of the property owner.
• A document called Written Permit extracted from the municipality and the state in which the property is located proving that there are no obstacles to changing the type of property.
• Approval of all the neighboring Owners of "apartments" in the building to be converted.

Important notes before converting the type of your property in Turkey

• Before proceeding to the procedures for transferring the type of your property, you must make sure of several things the most important of which, that your property is not subject to restrictions that prevent the process such as attachment, mortgage, confiscation, etc. by going to the Real Estate Registry Department and inquiring about it, given that you cannot know this aspect through an apparent signal in the title deed.
• All property title data are in the electronic system of real estate registry or real estate survey, so those who want to change the type of their property must make sure that it is registered in the real estate registry, because all unregistered properties means that the bond has no value and is not recognized even if it was signed by the seller and the buyer, therefore, we must be careful and take care about this issue and avoid making such kind of mistakes as the property is purchased without checking the validity of the title deed or its invalidity.
• Verifying the validity of the title deed in the real estate directorate before signing contracts to buy and sell property in Turkey at the notary, as many believe that the conclusion of the contract with the notary means necessarily the validity of the real estate title deed, but the truth proves that there are many experiences that confirm that despite signing the title deed by the notary it did not prove the buyer’s ownership of the property, as the bond may be counterfeit and illegal, and sometimes it is original, but the owner has sold it more than once to several people, and thus the buyer finds himself in front of an invalid contract.

The Turkish government focuses a lot on the demand of foreigners to buy property in Turkey, as it considers real estate to be one of the most important sectors and a contribution to strengthening the country's economy, so it is intended that all procedures in it should be legal and guaranteed with high reliability in order to protect investors, especially foreigners who have become in recent years heading intensively towards buying property in Turkey and real estate investment in Turkey in general.