The Turkish authorities have begun work on new rules for short-term rentals, the task of which, considering everything, will seriously complicate the life of tourists who like to save money and settle in private apartments, ignoring hotels.
The fact is that, as reported by the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, local hotels and business associations have been complaining for at least the entire season that the occupancy of accommodation facilities in the Mediterranean city remains low, as many arriving tourists prefer to stay in these apartments for short-term rent.
“Most of those who rent apartments work informally and do not pay taxes, which creates unfair competition,” they say. That is why the rules for short-term rentals may change shortly.
The authorities are working on this issue, said Ali Bahar, president of the Antalya Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ATSO). “Some concrete measures are starting to appear after we raised this issue with Tourism Minister Mehmet Ersoy. At a minimum, under the proposed new rules, if an apartment is offered on Airbnb, the consent of all residents of the building will be required. We are not asking for a total ban. But we intend to solve this problem with the help of inspections and more effective rules,” he said.
According to Bahar, the authorities are also considering a particular taxation scheme for such apartments. And, of course, “conscious citizens” will be connected to the case – it is proposed to create a hotline, which people can use to report those who work illegally, he added.
We will remind you that the main object of complaints are “illegals” who rent their real estate to their compatriots. In the period from January to August, more than 10 million foreign tourists arrived in the city, which is 20 percent more than last year. However, the occupancy of Antalya hotels decreased from 74.6% in July 2022 to 70.5% in the same month of 2023. At the same time, 200,000 foreigners live in Antalya alone. And, as the Turks previously estimated, almost 28,000 real estate units are presented on the Airbnb website in Antalya alone, here they are mostly private houses, and you can rent a 2-bedroom house in the city center for 2-3 thousand Turkish Liras for a night. There are slightly fewer offers in Bodrum and Izmir – about 7 and 10 thousand offers, respectively, the asking price – from 1.5 thousand liras for an apartment in the city center to 15 thousand for a villa. Read details at this link.