Seeking high rental income spells trouble for landlords
ISTANBUL
Landlords who seek lucrative income by leasing out their properties particularly to foreigners at excessive rental prices are now facing problems as new tenants either fail to pay rents or leave the flat before the contract expires.
Rent prices have been on the rise in Türkiye for months and many landlords hoping to make larger financial gains ask their existing tenants to hike the rent or evacuate the flats.
Some of the landlords want to lease out their properties to foreign nationals, who they believe could afford the higher prices. However, their expectations do not materialize, on the contrary they face even bigger problems.
As rental prices rocket and inflation soars, property owners demand mid-year rent hikes or seek legal ways to evacuate the existing tenants to lease out the flat at a much higher rental price. Some of the landlords manage to replace the existing occupants with new ones, often with foreign renters. However, things do not go as planned at least for some of them.
New tenants, who initially agreed to pay a higher rent, leave the flat before the leasing contract expires, which means no income from the property for weeks or even months, or they disappear without making payments. Landlords also complain that some of the new occupants cause substantial material damage to the flats. Property owners go to courts seeking compensation for the damages, but some of them have no options as their tenants simply disappear.
Earlier this year, the government introduced a new regulation, which says rent price hikes will be limited to 25 percent. The cap on rent price hikes will apply to lease contracts, which are signed until July 1, 2023. Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ said the cap is only a temporary measure.
