Kat Mülkiyeti vs. Kat İrtifakı: Which Turkish Title Deed Type Are You Buying (and Why It Matters)
Most international buyers in Alanya discover the difference between Kat Mülkiyeti and Kat İrtifakı at the worst possible moment: weeks after handover, holding a freshly issued TAPU (title deed), when a lawyer or bank casually points out that the property type field reads "Arsa" — land share — instead of "Mesken" — residential unit. The keys are in hand, the furniture is in, and only then does the buyer learn they own a slice of a plot, not a legally defined apartment.
This is not fraud, and it is not unusual. It is one of the most common and least-explained features of buying new-build property in Turkey. But it carries real consequences for mortgages, short-term rental income, citizenship eligibility, and resale value. This guide explains exactly what each title type means, how to check which one you are getting before you sign, and the contract language that protects you.
The Surprise at Handover
When you buy an off-plan or recently completed apartment in Alanya, the developer transfers a title deed to you at handover. Buyers reasonably assume a title deed is a title deed — proof you own your home. In Turkey, that assumption is incomplete.
If the building does not yet hold an iskan (the municipal habitation/occupancy certificate confirming the structure is lawfully fit to live in), the deed you receive is a Kat İrtifakı — a construction servitude. It is genuine, registered, legally binding ownership. But what it records is your proportional share of the land, tied to a building permit, not finished, independent ownership of unit 7 on the third floor.
Foreign buyers are caught off guard because in most home countries occupancy approval and freehold title are bundled together. In Turkey they are two separate documents from two separate authorities — the TAPU from the Land Registry (TKGM), the iskan from the municipality — and they are frequently issued years apart.
What Kat İrtifakı Actually Means
Kat İrtifakı (floor easement, or construction servitude) is governed by Turkey's Condominium Ownership Law No. 634, Articles 5–10. It is established on the basis of a building permit, before the structure is completed or before the iskan is issued. In plain terms, it is a provisional ownership form designed to let units be sold and registered while a project is still being built or finished.
Because the building is not yet legally certified as habitable, the registry classifies what you own as a share of the plot. On the TAPU, the Cins (property type) field reads "Arsa" (land). You own your apartment in practice, but on paper your ownership is expressed as a land share against an as-yet-unfinished structure.
That distinction is not academic. It triggers a chain of practical limitations covered in the comparison below.
What Kat Mülkiyeti Means
Kat Mülkiyeti (full condominium ownership) is governed by Law No. 634, Article 12. It can only be registered after the municipality issues the iskan, confirming the completed building matches its approved architectural plans and meets structural and safety codes.
Once that happens, your land share is upgraded into full, legally defined ownership of a specific independent unit — with its own block, floor, and apartment designation. The TAPU's Cins field changes from "Arsa" to "Bina" (building) or "Mesken" (residential flat). This is the title type you ultimately want to hold, and the one that unlocks mortgages, tourism-rental licensing, and clean resale.
The iskan is the hinge. No iskan, no Kat Mülkiyeti — full stop.
Kat İrtifakı vs. Kat Mülkiyeti: Side by Side
| Dimension | Kat İrtifakı (construction servitude) | Kat Mülkiyeti (condominium ownership) |
|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | Law No. 634, Articles 5–10 | Law No. 634, Article 12 |
| TAPU "Cins" field | "Arsa" (land share) | "Mesken" / "Bina" (residential unit) |
| Requires iskan? | No — issued before occupancy permit | Yes — only after iskan is granted |
| What you own | Proportional share of the plot | Independent, legally defined apartment |
| Standard mortgage | Refused by banks (land, not housing) | Eligible for standard housing loan |
| Short-term rental (STR) licence | Ineligible — no iskan, no permit | Eligible (plus unanimous neighbour consent) |
| Citizenship by Investment | Not accepted | Accepted (with valid iskan) |
| Resale liquidity | Cash buyers only; depressed prices | Full buyer pool incl. financed buyers |
Why It Matters: The Four Real Risks
1. No mortgage. Turkish banks — including state lenders Ziraat, VakıfBank, and Halkbank — routinely refuse standard housing loans secured against Kat İrtifakı properties, because the asset is classified as land rather than a habitable home. Some banks offer a specialised "land loan" (arsa kredisi) at 3–5 percentage points above housing-loan rates with lower loan-to-value ratios (50–60% versus 70–80%) — not a like-for-like substitute. If you are financing, see our guide to Getting a Mortgage in Turkey as a Foreigner: Banks, Rates, and Requirements before assuming a Kat İrtifakı unit qualifies.
2. No short-term rental income. Under Law No. 7464 (Turkey's "Airbnb Law," effective 1 January 2024), a Tourism Purpose Rental Permit can only be granted for units covered by a valid iskan. A Kat İrtifakı property is therefore ineligible for any STR licence. Even after conversion, you must also secure unanimous written consent from every other owner in the building. If holiday-rental yield is part of your plan, read our breakdown of Turkey's Short-Term Rental Permit Rules: The 100-Day Law alongside this article.
3. No citizenship. Turkey's Citizenship by Investment programme requires the qualifying property to hold full Kat Mülkiyeti and a valid iskan. A Kat İrtifakı deed cannot anchor a USD 400,000 application until it is converted.
4. Impaired resale. Because your eventual buyer also cannot get financing, your resale market shrinks to cash buyers only. That structural liquidity gap typically pushes achievable prices below those of equivalent Kat Mülkiyeti units.
How to Check Which Type You Are Getting
You can verify a property's title status before you commit, and you should treat it as a non-negotiable due-diligence step.
- Request the TAPU records for the specific parcel from the seller or your lawyer, and read the Cins field. "Arsa" = Kat İrtifakı; "Mesken" or "Bina" = Kat Mülkiyeti.
- Cross-check online via TKGM's Parsel Sorgulama (parcel inquiry) portal, or — if you have a Turkish ID and e-Devlet access — pull the registry record directly. Both show the Cins classification and reveal any mortgage (ipotek) or annotation (şerh) recorded against the parcel.
- Ask for the iskan directly. If the developer can produce a building-wide iskan, conversion to Kat Mülkiyeti is imminent or already done. If they cannot, assume you are buying Kat İrtifakı and price the risk accordingly.
The conversion itself is a two-stage process. First the developer (or owners collectively) applies to the municipality for the iskan; inspection and approval typically take 1–3 months. Once granted, TKGM updates the registry and issues new Kat Mülkiyeti deeds within weeks. The catch is the iskan timing: when developers are slow to remedy construction deficiencies, delays of one to five years beyond handover are well documented.
What to Demand in Your Purchase Contract
If you are buying off-plan or a building still awaiting its iskan, your protection lives in the contract — not in good faith. The single strongest tool is a notarised Preliminary Sales Contract (Satış Vaadi Sözleşmesi) annotated on the title registry, which lets you compel transfer or sue for damages in court. Insist it includes:
- A hard iskan deadline — a specific date by which the developer must obtain and deliver the building's occupancy permit.
- A conversion obligation — an explicit clause requiring the developer to complete the Kat Mülkiyeti conversion within a defined period after the iskan is issued.
- Penalties and rescission rights — financial penalties and a contractual right to walk away with a refund if those deadlines are missed.
- A completion definition — language stating that delivery of full Kat Mülkiyeti, not Kat İrtifakı, constitutes the developer fulfilling its obligation.
For the wider checklist on vetting new-build projects and developers, see our Buying Off-Plan Property in Alanya: A Foreign Buyer’s Guide to New-Build Projects.
FAQ
Is a Kat İrtifakı title deed fake or invalid? No. It is a fully legal, registered form of ownership under Law No. 634. It simply records a land share against a building that has not yet received its occupancy permit, rather than independent ownership of a finished unit. The risk is in its limitations — mortgage, STR, citizenship, and resale — not in its validity.
Will my Kat İrtifakı automatically become Kat Mülkiyeti? Not automatically and not on a guaranteed timeline. Conversion requires the building to obtain its iskan from the municipality first, then a registry update at TKGM. If the developer never pursues or never qualifies for the iskan, the conversion can stall for years — which is precisely why a contractual deadline matters.
Can I just live in or rent out (long-term) a Kat İrtifakı apartment in the meantime? Yes. You can occupy it and let it on a standard long-term residential lease. The restrictions bite on bank financing, tourism-purpose short-term rental licensing, citizenship eligibility, and financed resale — not on your everyday use of the home.
Sources
- Avukat Fevziya Skir — Condominium Easement vs. Property Ownership: the legal distinction
- TKGM (General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre) — Kat İrtifakı → Kat Mülkiyeti conversion and Circular 2021/4
- Att. Cemil Şaar / Istanbul Lawyer Firm — Short-Term Rental Law No. 7464 (2024)
- Akkas Law — Real Estate Sales Promise (Satış Vaadi) Contracts in Turkey
- CCT Investments — Correlation between Iskan and Kat Mülkiyet TAPU
