TÜRKIYE Law and Practice Contributed by: Serkan Gül, Nazım O Kurt and Türkay Avanaş, Hergüner Bilgen Üçer Attorney Partnership
is able to obtain an individual utilities account for their own use. Expenses incurred for common areas are generally allocated among tenants on the basis of the square metres of the property. Managers of such properties usually reserve for themselves, by contract, the authority to take into account other factors such as the tenant’s location within the property, the extent to which the presence of the tenant generates business for the facility as a whole, the tenant’s business volume, etc. The allocation of common expenses among tenants in shopping centres is governed by the Regulation on Shopping Centres ( Alışveriş Merkezleri Hakkında Yönetmelik ). The regulation specifies mandatory rules to be used when allo - cating common expense contribution amounts to tenants in shopping centres. The common expenses are, in principle, allocated according to the square metres of the respective stores, restaurants, etc. 6.11 Payment of Property Taxes Under Turkish law, unless otherwise specified by the parties, landlords, as property owners, are responsible for paying real estate taxes associ - ated with rental properties. Additionally, accord - ing to the Turkish Code of Obligations, it is not permissible for parties to allocate additional costs to the tenant alongside the rental fee in the lease of residential units and roofed workplaces. As such, for the leasing of residential units and roofed workplaces, the parties may not agree to transfer the responsibility for payment of real
use properties and can increase the cost of this insurance depending on the parties’ bargaining positions. The law imposes the cost of manda - tory insurance on landlords by default but per - mits reassignment of these costs. Landlords typically insure properties against fire, hurricanes, explosion, water damage, flooding, landslides, snow damage, aircraft impact and earthquakes. Terrorism insurance is also some - times taken out. A lessee typically takes out renter’s all-risk insurance as well as third-party liability insurance. 6.13 Restrictions on the Use of Real Estate The use of land is regulated under the zoning plan for the locality. These restrictions operate in the background and supersede any conflicting provisions of any lease agreement that is signed between a landlord and a tenant. Furthermore, under the Code on Condominiums, the opera - tion of businesses is prohibited in residential buildings. Restrictions on a tenant’s use of real property are typically found in lease agreements, and these are binding on lessees under contract law. 6.14 Tenant’s Ability to Alter and Improve Real Estate Tenants may alter leased premises if this is per - mitted under their lease agreement. Structural improvements may require a licence from the local municipality, and these licences are only issued to landowners. As such, a tenant would have to obtain the landlord’s consent for struc - tural improvements. Landlords typically give their consent to such improvements by issuing a power of attorney to their lessees for improve - ment purposes, under which lessees obtain the requisite licence and commence construction of improvements.
estate tax to the tenant. 6.12 Insurance Issues
Generally speaking, landlords insure the prop - erty against structural risks, and tenants insure the property against operational risks. Land - lords also insure the common areas of shared-
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