Türkiye has introduced strict regulations, including licenses, on Airbnb-style short-term house rentals, as rental prices have been significantly soaring due to high inflation in recent years.
Homeowners are now required to obtain permits from the authorities for rentals shorter than 100 days, according to a decision published in the Official Gazette on Thursday.
The owners are required to get the consent of all building residents, pay a fee and display a government-issued notice on their doors before they can rent their flats on platforms like Airbnb, according to the new regulation
Owners face hefty fines and revocation of their licenses if they violate the regulation, which also includes sharing customers' information with the authorities and abiding by "public morality" rules.
Residents have struggled to find affordable homes due to soaring prices, attributed to stubbornly high consumer inflation, which rose to over 61% in September and is expected to rise further toward the end of the year.
Türkiye has extended a measure limiting annual rent increases to a maximum of 25%, which was introduced in June last year, leading to a major surge in legal conflicts between landlords and tenants.
Before the regulation, once-a-year price hikes for existing tenants were capped at the average annual inflation rate over the past 12 months.
To avoid expensive and prolonged legal battles, homeowners have been increasingly resorting to short-term rentals through platforms like Airbnb.
Average rental prices in Türkiye rose by 583% between April 2019 and April 2023, according to figures from the city of Istanbul. The nearly 16 million metropolis releases surveys on the whole country.
Besides Istanbul, the greatest increase was recorded in the southern coastal provinces as well as the capital Ankara.
