Bill on short-term rentals sent to parliament

ANKARA

The draft bill that imposes stricter regulations on Airbnb-style short-term rentals has been submitted to parliament.

The bill, prepared by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), stipulates that landlords will be required to obtain permits from the Culture and Tourism Ministry if they rent out their properties for a duration of less than 100 days.

The bills says that there are around 30,000 houses rented for “tourism purposes” in Türkiye.

Hoteliers widely complained this summer that they were losing customers to short-term rentals.

The bill will help authorities keep record of financial gains made through short-term rentals.

Under the new regulations, the information on the identities of those who stay at the houses will be provided to law enforcement authorities.

Those, who rent their properties without a permission, will face a penalty of 100,000 Turkish Liras ($3,600) per housing unit. If they continue to violate the permission rule, they may be fined up to 1 million liras.

Those who sub-let the short-team rentals for tourism purposes will also be fined 100,000 liras, according to the bill.

If approved by parliament, the legislation will come into force as of Jan. 1, 2024.