Off-plan purchases in Türkiye fail in a predictable way. Delivery slips by a few months, then a few more, communication thins out, and by the time buyers organise themselves the developer has little left to enforce against. In a dispute of this kind the practical outcome is decided less by who is right than by who moves first. Creditors are paid in the order their claims are secured, not in the order their grievances arose.
This determines everything that follows.
Where you bought a home for your own use rather than in the course of a business, the pre-paid housing provisions of Law No. 6502 apply and cannot be contracted out of.
| Protection | Position |
|---|---|
| Maximum delivery period | 48 months from the date of the contract. A longer period does not bind the consumer. |
| Withdrawal without cause | 14 days from the contract, with no reason and no penalty. |
| Rescission before delivery | The consumer may rescind at any time until delivery. The seller may claim a penalty capped by the statute, and must return what was paid within the statutory period. |
| Security for the buyer | The seller must provide a building completion insurance policy or an equivalent guarantee before taking pre-payments. Its absence is itself a serious breach. |
The completion guarantee is the first thing to check and the item most often missing. Where it exists, it is frequently the only route to a real recovery once the developer has failed.
The choice is not purely legal. Rescinding puts you in a queue of unsecured creditors; insisting on performance keeps a claim over the property itself. Which is better depends on what is left at the site and what is left in the company.
Before or alongside the main claim, an interim attachment (ihtiyati haciz) is sought over the developer's bank accounts, unsold units, land and receivables. An interim injunction annotated on the project's title deeds is used where the claim is to the property rather than to money.
The point is blunt: by the time a construction dispute reaches judgment, the assets are usually gone. Buyers who secured early recover; buyers who waited for a judgment share what is left.
A unit delivered without an occupancy permit (iskân) is not fully deliverable in the legal sense. It obstructs individual condominium title, complicates resale and mortgage finance, and affects utility subscriptions. It is a defect in delivery in its own right and should be pleaded as one, not treated as an administrative detail to be sorted out later.
Consumer Courts where the buyer is a consumer; otherwise the Commercial Court, with the pre-action mediation requirement that applies to commercial claims. Land-for-flat construction disputes between a landowner and a contractor (kat karşılığı inşaat) follow their own track and frequently include a claim to have the contract terminated with the completed portion registered.
Where a project has failed, buyers are usually in the same position against the same estate. Coordinating gives everyone a better outcome: shared evidence about the state of the works and the company, consistent expert findings, and above all attachments obtained at the same time rather than one buyer at a time as each realises what has happened.
In a pre-paid housing sale the consumer may rescind at any time before delivery, and there is a 14-day withdrawal right without cause at the start. Independently, the delivery period in a pre-paid housing sale may not exceed 48 months from the contract, and exceeding the agreed date is itself a breach that supports rescission and damages.
No, but it is weaker. Sale and promise-to-sell contracts for immovables require official form, so a private contract does not by itself support registration of the property in your name. It still evidences the payments made and supports a claim to recover them with damages.
In pre-paid housing sales the seller must provide building completion insurance or an equivalent security before taking payments. Where it exists it is often the only realistic source of recovery after a developer fails, so it is the first document to locate.
Because recovery follows security, not merits. By the time judgment is given the developer’s assets are usually exhausted. Buyers who obtained attachment over accounts, unsold units and land early are paid; those who waited share the remainder.
Yes. Without an occupancy permit the unit cannot be lawfully used as intended, individual condominium title is obstructed, and resale and mortgage finance are affected. It is a defect in delivery and is claimed as one.
