Dissenting Owners in Urban Transformation in Türkiye: Majority Decisions, Sale of Shares and Legal Remedies

A dissenting owner cannot stop the urban transformation process alone. For risky buildings, decisions are now taken by an absolute majority of land shares, and the share of an owner who does not join the decision can be sold at auction at no less than its market value. However, the dissenting owner also has remedies to object and to sue, and each of them is subject to short deadlines.

In this article we explain how the majority decision is taken under Law No. 6306 on the Transformation of Areas Under Disaster Risk, the stages through which a dissenting owner's share is sold, which acts can be objected to or challenged in court and within what periods, and what to check before signing a contract.

How Is the Majority Decision Taken?

Once a building has been determined to be risky, the owners decide on the method of implementation, such as demolition and reconstruction, the sale of shares, a flat-for-land arrangement or revenue sharing. Since the amendment made by Law No. 7471, an absolute majority calculated by shares is sufficient for this decision; the two-thirds majority previously required has been abolished.

The rule has two important consequences:

• Land shares count, not people. In a building with ten flats, it is not the number of flats but the owners' land shares in the title register that are added up. Owners holding more than half of the land shares can take the decision.
• The meeting procedure must be followed. Under the Implementing Regulation, the place and time of the meeting are announced for 15 days at the neighbourhood office or, if the building has not yet been demolished, on the building door or notice board. A decision taken without following the procedure exposes every subsequent step to the risk of annulment.

How Is a Dissenting Owner's Share Sold?

After the absolute majority decision, the process moves forward in the following order:

1. Notification of the offer. The offer containing the decision and the terms of the agreement is notified to the owners who did not join the decision. Owners who have registered an electronic notification address with the land registry are notified at that address; others are notified through a notary or by an announcement at the neighbourhood office for 15 days.
2. The 15-day period. If the offer is not accepted within 15 days of notification, the process moves to the sale stage.
3. Valuation. The market value of the share is determined by a real estate valuation firm authorised by the Capital Markets Board.
4. Auction among co-owners. The share is sold at auction, at no less than that value, to the other co-owners who agreed.
5. If the co-owners do not buy. In risky areas and reserve building areas, the share is purchased by the Urban Transformation Presidency, the Administration or the Housing Development Administration (TOKI) by paying its market value. For individual risky buildings, the sale is repeated until a sale is made to third parties who accept the terms of the agreement.

Rights and Legal Remedies of the Dissenting Owner

A dissenting owner cannot block the process alone, but can demand that every stage is carried out lawfully. The main remedies are:

• Objection to the risky building determination (15 days). Within 15 days of notification of the determination, or of the last day of the announcement at the neighbourhood office, you may object by a petition to the Provincial Directorate of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change where the building is located. The objection is reviewed by a technical committee made up of university faculty members and Ministry staff.
• Annulment action (30 days). Administrative acts taken under the Law may be challenged by an annulment action before the administrative court within 30 days of notification. The risky building determination, the technical committee's decision on the objection and the sale of shares fall within this scope.
• Review of the sale process. In actions against the sale of shares, the court examines whether the meeting announcement and the notification of the offer were made properly, whether the majority was correctly calculated by land shares, and whether the market value was determined on a current and realistic basis.

Filing an action does not by itself stop the process. For the act not to be implemented, the court must issue a stay of execution; this request should therefore be raised, with its grounds, in the statement of claim.

If the dissenting owner finds the terms of the offer insufficient, they can also negotiate within the 15-day period. In practice, matters such as the size of the unit, the floor and facade allocation, rent assistance and the delivery date can be renegotiated at this stage.

Eviction, Demolition and Cutting Off Utilities

The Law provides that owners are given a period of no more than ninety days to have a risky building demolished. If the building is not demolished within that period, the owners are notified that it will be demolished by the administrative authorities; the costs of determination, eviction and demolition incurred by the administration are collected from the owners in proportion to their shares under Law No. 6183 on the Collection of Public Receivables.

Electricity, water and natural gas are not supplied to risky buildings, and existing services are cut off by the relevant institutions. Owners and tenants of buildings evacuated by agreement, and holders of limited real rights provided that they live in the building, may be given temporary housing or business premises or rent assistance. For amounts, durations and how to apply, see our guide to urban transformation rent assistance.

Before Signing a Contract With the Contractor

After the majority decision, the most critical document is the flat-for-land construction contract with the contractor. Because this contract involves the transfer of land shares, it must be executed before a notary in official form. Before signing, make sure the contract clearly covers at least the following:

• An allocation list showing which unit will be given to which owner, together with the approved project,
• The start and delivery dates of construction and the compensation payable in the event of delay,
• The amount and payment schedule of any rent the contractor will pay during construction,
• The transfer of land shares to the contractor in stages according to the progress of construction, rather than all at once,
• The security to be relied on and the conditions for terminating the contract if the contractor cannot complete the work.

What Should You Do in Your Situation?

If you are an owner who does not want to agree: Note the date on which the risky building determination reached you, and do not miss the 15-day objection period and the 30-day period to sue. When the offer is notified to you, either accept it within 15 days or negotiate its terms in writing; if your share is put up for sale, review the valuation report and the sale procedure.

If you are on the majority side: Carry out the meeting announcement, the minutes of the decision, the notification of the offer and the valuation report in a documented way. A procedural defect at any of these stages can set the whole process back in an action brought by the dissenting owner.

If you are a contractor: Before applying for the building permit, check that the majority was correctly calculated by land shares and that the owners who did not join the decision were notified properly; sign the contract with all owners on the same terms.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

With the absolute majority rule, a dissenting owner's ability to stop urban transformation has largely disappeared; the share of an owner who does not join the decision can be sold at auction. On the other hand, remedies such as an objection to the risky building determination, an annulment action against administrative acts and review of the sale process remain available. Since all of these remedies are subject to short periods of 15 and 30 days, tracking the date of each notification is the decisive step, whichever side you are on.