Comprehensive amendments to the Regulation on Land and Plot Arrangements published
The Amending Regulation on the Regulation on Land and Plot Arrangements, published in the Official Gazette dated 11 September 2025, introduced significant changes to the original Regulation published in the Official Gazette No. 31047 on 22 February 2020. These amendments substantially update both the substantive and procedural framework of parcelisation (parselasyon) practices. Most notably, the explicit inclusion of transfer of development rights (“TDR”) into the legislation, the digitalisation of announcement and objection processes through the parcelisation plans monitoring and supervision system (parselasyon planları izleme ve denetleme sistemi) (“PARSID”), and the restructuring of the regime on land arrangement shares (düzenleme ortaklık payı) (“DOP”) while maintaining the 45% upper limit with complementary mechanisms will directly affect practice for municipalities, investors and landowners.
New Concepts and Digital Process Architecture
The Regulation introduces new definitions such as “TDR”, “receiving and transferring plot”, “public announcement distribution schedule” and “PARSID”, thereby clarifying the terminology of implementation. Public announcement, disclosure and objection must now be carried out simultaneously on municipal and provincial noticeboards, websites and via the PARSID system. While the thirty (30) day objection period is maintained, only those owners directly affected by accepted objections will be granted an additional ten (10) days to submit further objections, preventing the need for the entire plan to be reposted. This structure increases transparency and stakeholder participation while enhancing efficiency and predictability.
Public Acquisition Mechanisms: DOP Limit, Complementary Tools and Monetary Conversion
For privately owned areas designated for public use under zoning plans, the process of acquisition is initiated through a land arrangement procedure carried out under Article 18 of the Zoning Law numbered 3194 (the “Zoning Law”). Where the 45% DOP threshold has already been reached or further deductions are not possible, residual needs may be met through unregistered areas, Treasury property or other public land with consent. If these tools prove insufficient, the Regulation systematises recourse to transfer of development rights or expropriation. The cumulative 45% cap is expressly preserved, with previous deductions and gratuitous transfers being counted within the total. For plots with existing structures where DOP deductions cannot be applied, a detailed monetary conversion regime has been introduced. Excess shares are monetised, proceeds deposited in owners’ accounts, offset against property tax, updated annually by revaluation, and restrictions recorded on title until full payment is made.
Parcelisation Technique, Registration Regime and Vacated Roads
Unplanned sections can now be separated without condition, while in areas with public investments the readjustment boundary may be drawn flexibly provided no unlawful plots are created. The rules on registration of vacated cadastral and zoning roads have been revised: such areas are to be registered under village legal entities, municipalities or the Treasury, and cannot be re-designated for private ownership functions by zoning amendments. For land surrendered, donated or derived from DOP but not yet registered, the principle of Treasury registration with the plan function expressly applies. For condominium parcels, independent allocation remains the default, though where impossible, allocation via co-ownership, sale at market value or monetary conversion is envisaged.
Court Annulments and New Roadmap for “Reversion” Cases
Where previous zoning implementations are annulled by courts, and physical/legal reversion to the original plots is impossible, the Regulation establishes alternative solutions. These include new parcelisation on registered plots, allocation elsewhere with owner consent, swaps or sales, and valuation either by Capital Markets Board (Sermaye Piyasası Kurulu) (“SPK”) licensed appraisal firms or by administrative valuation commissions. In such cases, a detailed technical report must explain why reversion is not feasible, and this must be reflected in the relevant administrative decision. This framework increases both applicability and legal certainty.
TDR: Scope, Limits and Valuation
With the introduction of a new seventh section, TDR is now possible across a broad spectrum, from before 2019 Public Partnership Share (Kamu Ortaklık Payı) (“KOP”) areas to newly designated public spaces where further DOP deductions cannot be applied, as well as isolated parcels where implementation of Article 18 of the Zoning Law is no longer feasible. Recourse to TDR requires a detailed technical report demonstrating that the classical tools under Article 5 of the Zoning Law cannot be applied, alongside an administrative decision. Transfers must be value-based: increases in floor area on the receiving parcel may not exceed 30%, and its unit value cannot surpass that of the transferring parcel. Where rights cannot be fully transferred, up to 20% of the residual value may be settled by offsetting. Upon gratuitous transfer of the transferring parcel, non-registrable public areas are removed from the land register, while registrable ones are registered in favour of the public with a restriction that they cannot be privatised or used for non-public functions. Ownership can be established either (i) through condominium-type co-ownership at the permit stage, or (ii) via proportional co-ownership and formal deed. Valuation must be carried out based on at least two SPK-licensed appraisal reports, not falling below their average, and at the applicant’s expense.
Practical Impact: Municipalities, Investors and Landowners
For municipalities and authorities, the immediate priority is ensuring PARSID integration and running announcement, objection and finalisation in both digital and physical channels. For DOP, cumulative tracking of previous deductions and transfers and timely annotation on title records is critical. Investors and developers should model potential receiving parcels and the 30% cap in feasibility studies, while checking titles carefully for monetary conversion or TDR annotations. Landowners must closely monitor how existing structures affect DOP deductions, the mechanism for offsetting monetary entitlements against property tax, and the timelines administered through PARSID.
Conclusion and Recommendations
The amendments shift land readjustment practice towards a more flexible toolkit combining digital governance and value-based transfer of development rights. For ongoing or planned projects, it will be vital to consolidate past deductions under the 45% cap, align with PARSID schedules, and prepare technical reports and valuation strategies early in annulment cases. For TDR scenarios, feasibility assessments, SPK valuation reports and owner consent processes will need to be carefully designed at the outset.
For further information on how these amendments may affect your projects, please contact your CMS Zoning Law expert or your local CMS advisor: Dr. Döne Yalçın, and S. Aslı Budak.
