Inflation and price hike crises in global markets also adversely affected the sales and rents of housing and land. When house prices and rents skyrocketed in Turkey, citizens began to sit at the table frequently with their landlords. Many citizens, who cannot agree with some landlords after the rent increases, are both investigating the rate and their rights.
Landlords can increase their rent by up to 25 percent. Some homeowners who don’t like the 25 percent hike said, “I’m moving home. My son or daughter will sit. They can resort to expelling their former tenants with excuses such as “I will sell them to someone else”. Expressing that some landlords in Samsun have heard that the tenants living at low prices are being tried to be evicted by these methods, Chairman Mevlüt Oral addressed the tenants and showed the way to the court.
NOT ENOUGH HOUSING, MANY OPPORTUNITIES
Mevlüt Oral, who stated that some property owners turned the lack of housing into opportunism, used the following expressions:
“The subject of the rental house is Turkey’s bleeding wound. As in Turkey, there is a problem in Samsun. Landlords aren’t the only reason rent prices are high. Because the construction costs have increased a lot. Since there is not enough construction, there is a housing shortage, and there are those who are opportunistic. Every day, I receive a complaint saying, ‘We were paying 800 TL in rent, the landlord wants to rent 3.5 thousand TL’. As the state announced, landlords can increase the rent by a maximum of 25 percent. Apart from this, even if an increase goes to court, it will not change. If the landlord evicts the tenant, either he or his immediate family will be able to live. If the owner removes the tenant with a court decision, he cannot rent his house for 3 years. If they do not comply with this rule, heavy penalties are applied. If you want 3.5 thousand TL rent from the house you rented for 800 TL, how will a citizen who lives on 5.5 thousand TL pay this rent? Tenants should deposit 25 percent of the rental price in the landlord’s account. If a further increase is desired, they should go to court, the law will do what is necessary.”
EVEN IF THE OWNER SELL THE HOUSE, THE TENANT DOESN’T HAVE TO LEAVE
Mentioning that the tenants should also defend their own rights, Oral continued as follows:
“The tenant does not have to leave even if the landlord sells the house to someone else. If the owner is going to sell the house, he can sell it. If the new owner of the house bought the house for investment, he can agree with the tenant. The owners, who said they would sell the house to get their tenants out, said, ‘Have you never been a tenant?’ I ask. Act with your hand on your conscience. Some property owners act ruthlessly. Since construction materials are expensive, apartment prices have also increased considerably. The price of a 1+1 flat of 40 m2 in Atakum is 1 million TL. There is no such situation. In order to eliminate the housing shortage in Samsun and to decrease the prices, 20 thousand houses should be built. If enough houses are built, the rent prices will decrease to 1500 TL. On the other hand, students did not stay outside in Samsun because of the dormitories built this year. Despite this, rental prices did not fall. The cheapest 1+1 flats for rent in Atakum are rented for 4 thousand TL with 2 thousand furnished and unfurnished. Students who have the opportunity still prefer these houses instead of dormitories.”
Rental prices in Samsun, which were 800 TL on average last year, start from 3.5 thousand TL this year and go up to 10 thousand TL.