GOVERNMENT HABITATION AMNESTY

Habitation certificate or Iskan? What is it and does your property need one? WHAT IS A HABITATION CERTIFICATE?

A habitation certificate is a document that verifies that a property is suitable for the use of which it was licensed and that it has been constructed in accordance with local building regulations.

WHY SHOULD YOU HAVE A HABITATION CERTIFICATE?

1. A property must have a habitation certificate stating that it is fit for habitation before it can be occupied or connected (officially) to the electric and water supplies.
2. Your DASK (earthquake insurance) may be invalid unless you have a habitation certificate.
3. You may have difficulty selling your property without one.
4. The local authority can impose substantial fines on owners using properties without the correct paperwork in place.

There are currently 13 million properties affected by this issue, and the Turkish government’s solution is to offer a temporary amnesty on most illegal properties. Breaches of the regulations could include extending or enclosing a balcony, converting a roof space or a basement storage space to a living space which would then make your property illegal. Have you been trying without success to obtain your habitation certificate, spending possibly 1000’s in the process? Is your property for sale and you are expecting a lower sale price because this important document is missing? Whatever the reason that your property is deemed illegal then you can avail yourself of this temporary amnesty. If your property was built before the end of 2017 or any alterations made were carried out before this date, then you may still be eligible, but the application has to be made before the end of October 2018. Here at the Foreign Citizens Advice Centre, we are often asked to assist with obtaining habitation certificates, but the process can be slow and laborious as many of our clients can testify. There is now a small window of opportunity until the end of October to take advantage of the government amnesty in which a valid building certificate can be applied for without the normal property checks, and with less of the official paperwork that is usually needed. It is important to note that even though you may have a habitation certificate for your property, if you or the previous owners have made changes to that property without permission then your property will need a new habitation certificate to cover the changes. The amnesty may remove altogether the need to do so. You should consider that most applications for a retrospective habitation certificate will be refused on the grounds that the changes were not in line with the current building and planning regulations, therefore the amnesty is often the only way to ever fully legalise your property in these situations. If you would like assistance in this very important matter then contact The Advice Centre either by phone: 0090 256 612 3207 or 0090 531 8560 546 (24 hour) or by email: We have been working hard over the last couple of months to have all the up to date information on the amnesty, and can advise you how best to make the application.