Urban Transformation (Law 6306) and Buying Older Buildings in Alanya: A Foreign Buyer's Guide

Older buildings in central Alanya often look like a bargain. A pre-2000 apartment two streets from the beach can cost a fraction of a new build, and for many foreign buyers that price gap is the whole appeal. But before you sign, you need to understand one thing that can quietly rewrite the economics of that purchase: Turkey's urban transformation program, known in Turkish as kentsel donusum. This is not a vague planning concept. It is a specific legal machine — built on Law No. 6306 and sharpened by major 2023 reforms — that can declare your building unsafe, force its demolition within 90 days, and hand you a brand-new apartment or a years-long rebuild headache depending on how prepared you are. This guide explains exactly how it works and what to check before buying an older Alanya building. What kentsel donusum actually is Kentsel donusum (urban transformation) is Turkey's national program to demolish and rebuild earthquake-unsafe buildings. Its legal backbone is Law No. 6306 on the Transformation of Areas Under Disaster Risk (Afet Riski Altindaki Alanlarin Donusturulmesi Hakkinda Kanun), in force since 2012. The program is not a niche initiative. Istanbul alone has an estimated 1.5 million independent units at risk. Since 2012 roughly 923,000 units have already been transformed, with 200,000+ more in process. This is a long-running, government-prioritized push — not a one-off campaign that will quietly disappear. It accelerated sharply after the 6 February 2023 Kahramanmaras earthquakes (magnitude 7.8 and 7.5), which killed more than 53,000 people. Those quakes triggered a sweeping legal reform — Law No. 7471, published in the Official Gazette on 9 November 2023 — explicitly designed to speed up identifying, evacuating, demolishing and rebuilding risky buildings across the country. The 'riskli yapi' (risky building) test The heart of the program is the riskli yapi — the "risky building" designation. Under Article 2 of Law 6306, a building qualifies as risky if it has reached the end of its economic life OR if scientific and technical data shows it is at risk of collapse or severe damage in an earthquake. Critically, this applies whether or not the building sits inside a formally declared "risky area." A single old block on an otherwise modern street can be flagged on its own. For Alanya, the practical filter is age. Buildings constructed before the post-1999 building code — itself a response to the 1999 Marmara earthquake — are common candidates. If the older apartment you are eyeing went up in the 1980s or 1990s, assume it could fall within scope and verify rather than hope. Who triggers the report — and who pays This is where many buyers are caught off guard. The risky-building identification process can be started by the application of just one co-owner. Consent from the other owners is not required to commission the report. An attorney with notarized power of attorney or the building manager can also start it, and the Ministry can order identification ex officio if owners fail to act. The assessment itself can only be carried out by an institution licensed by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change — licensed building-inspection firms and universities. It is a paid private engineering report, and the fee is paid by the owner who commissions it. The price is set by the firm based on the building's size, not fixed by the law. Objection and demolition timeline Once a building is assessed as risky, the clock starts running:

On demolition, the condominium ownership (kat mulkiyeti) ends and the property reverts to shared land (arsa). In other words, you no longer own "apartment 4" — you own a share of a plot waiting to be rebuilt. The 2023 game-changer: 50% + 1 The single most important reform for a buyer to understand is the change to the owner-consent threshold. Before November 2023, demolish-and-rebuild decisions required two-thirds (66.7%) of the ownership shares. That high bar meant a small group of holdout owners could freeze a project for years. Law No. 7471 lowered the threshold to an absolute majority — 50% + 1 of ownership shares — for the key decisions: contractor selection, the reconstruction project, and unit allocation. The same simple majority can now terminate a previously signed construction contract, which matters if you buy into a building with a stalled project. Just as important is what now happens to dissenters: Before 2023: the land shares of refusing owners were auctioned to other parties. After 2023: those shares are temporarily registered in the name of the Treasury until reconstruction is complete. The effect is decisive. A minority can no longer block a transformation that the majority supports. If you buy a unit and oppose a rebuild that 50% + 1 of the shares approve, you cannot stop it — you will be carried along with the project. Law 7471 also redefined reserve building areas (rezerv yapi alani), removing the old requirement that they be brand-new settlement land. Now existing settlements can also be designated as reserve areas, widening where transformation can occur. The incentives: rent aid, tax exemptions and grants Urban transformation is not all stick. The program carries real financial support, and Law 6306 applies equally to foreign owners — foreigners can claim the same rent assistance and tax exemptions as Turkish citizens. Rent assistance (kira yardimi) While your building is rebuilt, the state pays rent aid to owners and tenants who vacate:

Monthly amounts are set per province and updated yearly. As a 2024 Istanbul reference point, owners in risky/reserve areas could receive up to 18,000 TL/month (20,000 TL for retirees) for up to 48 months, with tenants up to 18,000 TL/month for up to 12 months. Antalya/Alanya rates differ and are fixed annually by the Ministry, so check the current figure rather than assuming the Istanbul number. Applications must be filed within one year of the eviction decision, or within three months after demolition, via the e-Devlet portal or the provincial Environment & Urbanisation Directorate. Tax and fee exemptions Transactions under Law 6306 are exempt from title-deed fees (tapu harci), stamp duty, notary fees and various municipal/licensing fees. The exemptions cover the first sale, transfer or mortgage of both the old unit and the new rebuilt unit, and they apply to owners, the contractor, and qualifying tenants/right-holders who used the building for at least one year. Given that the tapu fee alone is normally 4% of declared value, this is a meaningful saving. 'Yarisi Bizden' (Half From Us) Launched in 2023 for Istanbul, the Yarisi Bizden ("Half From Us") campaign has the state cover part of rebuild costs. By 2024 the grant was raised to roughly 875,000 TL plus a loan of up to ~875,000 TL per unit, with relocation aid. Risky structures approved through the end of 2026 can join if conditions are met. While the headline program is Istanbul-focused, it signals the direction of state support nationwide. What a pending transformation order does to value and risk Here is the buyer's bottom line. A pending or likely transformation order materially changes both the value and the risk profile of an older Alanya building. The downside for a buyer: A flagged building cannot be insured or financed normally during the transition. It faces a forced 90-day demolition once the risk finding is final. You inherit the rebuild process — cost-sharing, contractor terms, and temporary relocation. If owner consensus stalls (even with the lower 50% + 1 bar), you face delay and uncertainty. The upside: You end up with a brand-new, code-compliant apartment, often larger than the original. You benefit from the tax and fee exemptions and rent assistance during the rebuild. You may have bought the original unit at a discount precisely because of its age. There is no single statutory percentage for how much a transformation order moves price — it is a qualitative judgment. But the asymmetry is clear: a buyer who understands the flag can negotiate and plan; a buyer who discovers it after closing inherits an obligation they never priced in. The pre-purchase checklist for a foreign buyer Before buying any cheaper pre-2000 Alanya building, verify the following: Pull the tapu (title deed) record and look for a "covered by Law No. 6306" annotation. This is the single clearest signal. Check risky-building status through the e-Devlet portal and the Ministry's urban-transformation services. Ask about any existing owner vote or contractor agreement. A building may already be mid-decision under the 50% + 1 rule. Quantify your cost-share obligation. If a rebuild is coming, what will you owe beyond grants and rent aid? Confirm eligibility for exemptions and rent aid in your specific case, and the current Antalya-province rates. Use a local lawyer to read the tapu, building file and any kat malikleri (owners' assembly) decisions before you commit. Done right, an older Alanya building inside the transformation pipeline can be an opportunity rather than a trap — a discounted entry that converts into a new, safer, exemption-backed home. Done blindly, it can mean inheriting a demolition order and a cost-share bill you never saw coming. The difference is entirely in the due diligence you do before you sign. If you are weighing an older property in Alanya and want help reading the tapu, checking the 6306 status, and understanding what a transformation order would mean for your numbers, the Ogenus Property team can guide you through the verification before you buy.