Cap on home rents temporary measure, reiterates minister

ISTANBUL

The newly introduced cap on hikes in home rents is only a temporary measure and will not be extended, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ said.

Parliament on June 8 approved the legislation that limits rent increases to a maximum of 25 percent.

The cap will apply to lease contracts to be signed until July 2023.

“This is a temporary measure which is now regulated with a clause incorporated to the code of obligations, and it only applies to residential units, not commercial properties,” Bozdağ said in an interview with private broadcaster TGRT Haber.

The current situation in Turkey necessitated such a move, the minister added, noting that expectations had been running high among the public for this cap on rent prices.

“It was designed to protect, especially the low-income groups and prevent evacuations.”

The cap will apply to the existing tenants who will renew their contract but will not cover those who will move to a new house and sign a lease agreement, Bozdağ explained.

Before the new legal regulation, landlords could increase the rents by the 12-month average of the consumer price inflation (CPI), which stood at 39.33 percent in May, whereas the headline annual consumer price inflation was 73.5 percent.

In Istanbul, rents increased by 163 percent last month from a year ago to 7,800 Turkish Liras on average, according to data from Endeksa. In Antalya, which has seen an influx of people from Russia and Ukraine amid the war, rents soared 334 percent over the past year to 10,300 liras on average.