Deforested lands’ owners are worried

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Repurposed deforested areas are to be sold by Turkish government.

Despite the recent government move to reduce the sales prices for landowners by 20 percent, the concerns of owners of deforested lands are increasing, as the market prices of the land have still yet to be decided.

With an expectation of raising an estimated 9.8 billion Turkish Liras, the government has introduced several bills and regulations for the sale of 2-B lands, a category officially including deforested lands repurposed by individuals, companies, villages, or towns. 

Since the number of applications for the sale of 2-B lands has been quite low, the government made a further arrangement to reduce the price of the lands by 20 percent with a new law that came into effect on Feb. 4. Most of the users have paid the application fees to obtain deeds for the land they use, but they are worried that they cannot afford to buy the land that they have been settled on for years, daily Milliyet reported. “We don’t have any other place to go. When we consulted to the contractors they told us to wait and talk when the deeds are issued,” a land owner told. 

Many construction companies have been visiting the land owners to make agreements, they have difficulties in doing so as the prices are not definite. 

A majority of the 2-B land owners are from low-income families and despite the 20 percent reduction and their willingness to sell the lands as soon as possible, there is a strong possibility that they won’t be able to sell, real estate agents say. Landowners have also been worried about multiple-ownership, which results in obscurity about how to provide flats after the sales. k HDN