Parking lots to become mandatory at new residential buildings as of April

Gülistan Alagöz – ISTANBUL

The Environment and Urbanization Ministry has put the final touch on a regulation that will make parking lots mandatory when buildings are being built, with requirements having been shaped according to the size of the apartments in the buildings.

According to the new regulation draft, which will be in effect as of March 31, for every three apartments smaller than 80 square meters and for every two apartments sized between 80 and 120 square meters, a parking lot must be allocated.

Each apartment sized between 120 and 180 square meters will have its own parking lot and apartments bigger than 180 square meters will have two each.

For every 30 square meters of shops and stores, a parking lot will be compulsory.

The previous regulation had ordered the construction of the parking place at the basement of the buildings. The new draft permits the constructor to build the parking areas at backyards.

For buildings with three or four floors, which consist of apartments smaller than 120 square meters, and depending on demand, residents will be able to park their cars with a special agreement at the nearest car park.

Also upon approvals from residents, walls separating backyards of two separate buildings can be brought down and the space opened can be shared to park their vehicles.

The new draft also allows constructors to arrange a separate parking area if the construction area is not big enough for a lot.

This will enable constructors to be able to find the nearest empty plots and arrange a car parking area there. These lots will be included and indicated in property deeds.

From March 31, 2021 to Jan. 1, 2023, for the newly constructed buildings which would need a minimum number of 20 parking lots, 2 percent of the parking spaces will be spared for the electrical vehicles.

After 2023, this rate will increase to 5 percent.

At the parking lots of shopping malls or the multistory car parks, this rate will be 5 until Jan 1, 2023, and will increase to 10 percent after 2023.

Mega cities in Turkey, especially Istanbul, suffer from an inadequate number of parking lots for cars and drivers often complain about the difficulty of finding a lot to park their vehicles.