If you own a property in Alanya and rent it to a long-term tenant, two questions shape your real return: how much can you raise the rent each year, and how hard is it to get the apartment back? In 2026 both answers are governed by the Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098, a law that strongly favours tenants. The temporary 25% rent-increase cap is gone, but it has been replaced by a moving ceiling tied to inflation, and the eviction process remains slow and procedural.
This guide explains the current rules in plain terms for foreign owners, with the exact dates and figures you need before signing a lease or planning a buy-to-let strategy.
The 25% rent cap is over: CPI now sets the ceiling
For two years, Turkey froze residential rent increases at a flat 25%. That temporary measure ran from 11 June 2022 to 1 July 2024. Since 1 July 2024, the 25% ceiling has been lifted, and residential rent renewals follow the same rule that already applied to commercial leases: increases are capped at the 12-month average of the Consumer Price Index (TUFE/CPI) published by TURKSTAT (TUIK), under Article 344 of the Code of Obligations.
The key change for landlords is that the ceiling is now much higher than 25% because Turkish inflation is high. The applicable monthly ceiling is the rolling 12-month CPI average for the month in which the lease renews. Recent figures show how far above 25% the rate now sits:
| Renewal month | 12-month average CPI ceiling |
|---|---|
| October 2025 | 38.36% |
| November 2025 | 37.15% |
| January 2026 | 34.88% |
| June 2026 | 32.24% |
These percentages are point-in-time figures that update every month as new TUIK data is published, so always check the exact ceiling for your renewal month before applying it. The principle is fixed even when the number moves: you may agree a lower increase in the contract, but any clause that sets the increase above the 12-month CPI average is invalid and is automatically reduced to the CPI figure.
Residential and commercial now share one rule
Commercial ("roofed workplace") leases were never subject to the 25% residential cap; they were always tied to the 12-month average CPI. As of late 2025, the same CPI ceiling applies to both residential and commercial renewals, so the two regimes have effectively converged.
Breaking the CPI ceiling: the 5-year rent-determination lawsuit
The CPI cap can trap a long-standing tenant at a rent far below market value, especially after several years of compounding. Turkish law provides one escape route, but it runs through the courts.
After 5 years — a lease longer than five years, or one that has renewed past the five-year mark — the landlord may file a rent-determination lawsuit (kira tespit davasi) under Article 344/3. In this case the judge is not bound by the 12-month CPI average. The court can reset the rent to fair market value, weighing comparable rents in the area, the condition of the property and the CPI, and the new figure may exceed the inflation ceiling.
This is the only lawful way to re-price a sitting tenant above CPI, and it is a slow, evidence-heavy process. For an Alanya owner with a tenant who signed years ago at a low rate, the five-year lawsuit is often the difference between a stagnant yield and a market-rate one.
You cannot evict just because the lease ended
The single most important fact for a foreign landlord to absorb: the end of the fixed term does not give you the right to evict. Residential leases in Turkey auto-renew annually. The tenant can walk away by giving 15 days' notice before the term ends, but the landlord has no matching exit on expiry.
In fact, the landlord cannot terminate on expiry alone for the first 10 years of continuous occupancy. Only after 10 years of extensions may the landlord end the lease without stating any reason, and even then only by giving written notice at least 3 months before the end of the next extension year.
Before that ten-year mark, eviction is possible only on a statutory just cause, and almost always through a court or enforcement process.
Statutory eviction grounds and notice periods
Turkish law lists specific grounds on which a landlord may seek possession. Each comes with its own notice and procedure. The table below summarises the main routes.
| Eviction ground | Key condition / notice | Route |
|---|---|---|
| Genuine personal need (landlord or relatives, home or business) | Need must be real and provable | Lawsuit |
| Reconstruction / major renovation | Permit-approved works that require the unit be vacated | Lawsuit |
| New owner's need | Notify tenant in writing within 1 month of purchase; act within 6 months of acquisition | Lawsuit |
| Eviction undertaking (tahliye taahhutnamesi) | Written, wet-signed, fixed vacate date | Enforcement (icra) |
| Two justified non-payment notices in one rental year | File within 1 month after that rental year ends | Lawsuit |
| Rent default | 30-day written notary warning to pay | Enforcement / eviction action |
| Serious breach (subletting, damage, illegal use) | Documented breach of contract | Lawsuit |
Two of these deserve a closer look because they are the ones foreign owners most often misunderstand.
The eviction undertaking (tahliye taahhutnamesi)
The tahliye taahhutnamesi is the strongest tool a landlord has. It is a written, wet-signed commitment by the tenant to vacate the property on a specific, unambiguous date. Its power is procedural: if the tenant fails to leave, the landlord can pursue expedited enforcement proceedings (icra) rather than a full eviction lawsuit, cutting months or years off the timeline.
There is one rule that invalidates most badly drafted undertakings: it is only valid if the tenant signs it AFTER the lease has been handed over/delivered. An undertaking signed on the same date as the lease is invalid, because the law assumes the tenant signed under pressure to get the keys. If the tenant does not leave on the stated date, the landlord must start enforcement or file suit within 1 month of that date.
For a foreign owner, the practical takeaway is to have a properly dated, post-handover undertaking drafted by a Turkish lawyer at the start of any tenancy. It is the closest thing to an insurance policy against a tenant who refuses to move.
The two-justified-notices rule
Under Article 352, if a tenant is served two valid written default notices for late rent within the same rental year, the landlord earns the right to file for eviction within one month after that rental year ends — even if the tenant later pays the arrears. This rewards landlords who document late payments carefully and serve formal notices through a notary rather than informal reminders.
For a straightforward non-payment, the faster path is a 30-day written warning served via notary: if the tenant does not pay within 30 days, the landlord can launch an eviction and enforcement action.
How long eviction actually takes
The headline number foreign buyers should plan around: a contested eviction typically takes about 1.5 to 2 years from first notice to final enforcement. Non-payment cases can resolve faster; disputes over breach or personal-need grounds run slower.
Two procedural points stretch the calendar:
- Mandatory mediation since 1 September 2023. Most rental and eviction lawsuits cannot be filed until mediation has been attempted and failed. Only after that can the case proceed to court.
- The 3-year no-re-let rule. After a need-based or reconstruction eviction, the landlord cannot re-let the property to a third party for 3 years without justification or court approval. This anti-abuse rule stops owners using a fake "personal need" claim to remove a tenant and immediately re-rent at market rate.
Treat the 1.5-2 year figure as indicative rather than statutory; it comes from a law-firm tracker, and other sources confirm the process is slow without quoting an identical duration.
Deposits and other tenant protections
Two further rules limit what a landlord can demand. Under Article 342, the security deposit cannot exceed 3 months' rent for residential and roofed-workplace leases. Any excess is invalid and recoverable by the tenant. The deposit must also be held in a blocked or joint bank account, releasable only by both parties' consent, a court decision or enforcement — a landlord cannot simply keep it.
What this means for Alanya: long-let versus short-let
Put the rent cap and the eviction rules together and the economics for a foreign owner in Alanya become clear. Long-let income is predictable but constrained: rises are locked to the CPI ceiling (roughly 32-38% through 2025-2026), re-pricing a sitting tenant to market means the five-year court route, and removing a problem tenant can take up to two years.
The obvious alternative — short-let tourism rental at market nightly rates — is itself now heavily regulated.
| Factor | Long-let (residential lease) | Short-let (tourism rental) |
|---|---|---|
| Rent / rate ceiling | Annual increase capped at 12-month CPI | Market nightly rate, no cap |
| Re-pricing a sitting tenant | Only via 5-year kira tespit lawsuit | Re-priced every booking |
| Getting the property back | Slow: just-cause + court, up to 1.5-2 years | Owner controls availability |
| Regulatory barrier | Tenant-protective law, strict eviction | Tourism Permit Certificate required |
| Building consent | Not required | Unanimous consent of ALL other owners (multi-unit) |
| Penalty for non-compliance | Invalid clauses reduced to legal limit | Fines TRY 100,000 to TRY 1,000,000 |
The short-let constraint comes from Law No. 7464, in force since 1 January 2024. Renting a whole residence for under 100 nights requires a Tourism Permit Certificate, and in a multi-unit building the owner must obtain unanimous consent from ALL other apartment owners. Operating without a permit risks fines from TRY 100,000 up to TRY 1,000,000.
The combined effect is pushing many foreign owners in Alanya toward one of two compliant strategies: a permitted whole-unit tourism rental (licence plus full building consent), or lets of 100+ nights that fall outside the short-term tourism regime while still capturing better rates than a CPI-capped annual lease.
The bottom line for foreign owners
Turkey's rental law is built to protect tenants, and 2026 does nothing to soften that. The 25% cap is history, but the CPI ceiling still limits annual upside on a long lease; the five-year lawsuit is the only way past it; and eviction is a slow, just-cause process that rewards careful paperwork — above all a properly dated eviction undertaking. Short-letting can capture market rates, but only behind a tourism permit and, in apartment buildings, the agreement of every neighbour.
Before you choose a strategy for an Alanya property, model both paths with these rules in mind and take Turkish legal advice on the specific building and lease. The right structure at the start saves years of constrained yield or stalled court cases later.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Rental percentages and procedures change; verify current figures and confirm your situation with a qualified Turkish lawyer before acting.