Turkey’s Parliament’s Justice Commission has ruled to impose a ten per cent limit per district on land that can be bought by foreign investors.

The decision to reinstate these restrictions on foreign ownership of land was made by the AKP Party following a heated debate over the controversial bill that eased the restrictions in the first place.

At present the current limit on the amount of land that a foreign investor can buy is 2.5 hectares (25,000 square metres). This can be increased to a maximum of 30 hectares as long as they have received the approval of the Cabinet.

Foreign nationals who want to buy property in Turkey need to bear in mind that the maximum area they can purchase cannot exceed 10 per cent of the total area within the town’s Implementary Development Plan and Local Development Plan. The buyer could face further restrictions on the amount that they can purchase should the Council of Ministers think it necessary when considering the town’s infrastructure, economy, environment and security.

The main opposers of the Bill are the Republican People’s Party (CHP), who believe it to be unconstitutional. Mahmut Tanal of the CHP criticised it for its vagueness and for having no real limit for sale of real estate to foreign investors.

Turkey has a reciprocal agreement for the purchase of property and land with a number of countries who allow Turkish nationals to buy property in their countries. These countries include the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and Canada, to name a few.

For details of property for sale in Turkey, visit the Turkey listings on Rightmove Overseas. One way to save money when buying or living in Turkey is to use a currency specialist when transferring your pounds into lira or euros. For more information on this, contact Smart Currency Exchange.

To understand the full step-by-step process to buying a property in Turkey, collect The Overseas Guides Company’s ‘Turkey Property Buying Guide’