Turkey has introduced mandatory verification of licenses on Airbnb as of April 2026. For foreign real estate investors, this changes the logic of purchasing.

From April 1, 2026, every homeowner in Turkey renting out a property on Airbnb must include the official short-term rental permit number for tourism purposes in their listing. The platform directly notified hosts: properties without verified data will not be able to accept new bookings. This is the next step in enforcing Law No. 7464, which came into force in January 2024 and introduced mandatory licensing for short-term residential rentals in Turkey.

The rule applies to all properties rented for up to 100 days. Such transactions are now considered tourism activities and require a permit from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Rentals for more than 100 days continue to be regulated as standard residential leases and do not require a license.

For foreign buyers considering Turkey as a market with high returns from short-term rentals — especially in Istanbul, Antalya, Alanya, and Bodrum — this creates a specific operational risk that most agents have not openly discussed until recently. The issue is the unanimity rule: to obtain a tourism license for an apartment in a multi-unit building, the written consent of all other apartment owners in that building is required. Not a majority, not two-thirds — all of them. A single dissenting neighbour blocks the entire process with no right of appeal.

This is not a theoretical problem. According to market analysts, about half of Airbnb listings in Istanbul were operating without a proper license at the beginning of 2026. After the platform’s April requirement came into effect, some of these are now in a grey zone: technically active, but potentially vulnerable to fines starting from 100,000 Turkish lira and above.

Turkey’s property market remains active overall. The Central Bank of Turkey recorded nominal house price growth of 26.36% year-on-year in February 2026 — but in real terms, accounting for inflation of 31.5%, this corresponds to a decline of about 4%. The average property price nationwide is approximately 4.95 million Turkish lira, or around $124,000 at current exchange rates. In March 2026, home sales to foreigners fell 20% year-on-year to 1,353 units — reflecting both tighter procedures and general caution among international buyers amid currency volatility.

For buyers focused on short-term rentals, the right strategy now begins with checking the specific building: whether a resolution on the permissibility of short-term rentals has already been adopted by owners, whether it is recorded in the property’s management plan, or whether it is necessary to initiate consent-gathering procedures. Properties where this condition is met sell faster and with a smaller discount.

Real estate in Turkey — Antalya, Istanbul, Alanya: discount-house.com/turkey