Renting out a home in Sarıyer: from Maslak to Kilyos.

01

Character of the district

Sarıyer is a large district on the European side covering the northern Bosphorus and the Black Sea coast, and it has two faces. In the south, Maslak and Ayazağa are a business and residence zone at city-centre pace; in the middle, the Bosphorus shore villages from İstinye to central Sarıyer; in the north, garden settlements such as Zekeriyaköy, Uskumruköy and Kilyos. Long-term family tenants are the district’s defining feature.

02

Neighbourhoods and housing stock

• —Maslak, Ayazağa, Huzur: post-2010 residence towers and mixed projects; mostly one- and two-bedroom; high complex dues, shared amenities such as pools and gyms; young professionals and students.
• —İstinye, Yeniköy, Tarabya: Bosphorus shore apartments, a few waterside mansions and complexes within groves; around the consular summer residences; foreign executives and families.
• —Emirgan, Reşitpaşa, Baltalimanı: complexes and villas with Bosphorus views; corporate housing; academics from the nearby ITU and Koç campuses.
• —Central Sarıyer, Büyükdere, Rumeli Kavağı: older apartment buildings and detached houses; established families; long-term letting.
• —Zekeriyaköy, Uskumruköy, Demirciköy, Kilyos: detached houses with gardens and villa complexes; families with children and tenants who want to be near private schools; a car is essential.

03

Who rents in Sarıyer

Young professionals and students around the Maslak towers, ITU and Koç University; families with children and foreign executives on the shore and in Zekeriyaköy; consular staff around Tarabya and Yeniköy. The international schools (Zekeriyaköy, Tarabya, close to Etiler) feed foreign family demand. These tenants usually want a long lease, corporate payment and a garden or parking.

04

Transport and daily life

The M2 is the only metro line that runs into Sarıyer; its stations within the district are Seyrantepe, İTÜ–Ayazağa, Darüşşafaka and the terminus Hacıosman. Alongside it are the Boğaziçi University–Aşiyan funicular (F4), buses along the Bosphorus shore road, and the Sarıyer and İstinye piers. There is no rail service in the northern villages; public transport is sparse and a car and parking are essential. Daily shopping at the Maslak and İstinye centres; fish restaurants and groves along the shore.

05

What a landlord needs to know

• —In residences the dues are a visible part of the cost of renting; amount, scope and increase method should be in the lease, and the site management plan handed to the tenant.
• —In detached houses, upkeep of the garden, roof, water tank and heating system should be allocated in the lease; routine cleaning and maintenance for ordinary use fall on the tenant while substantial repair falls on the landlord, and the tenant cannot be made to pay anything beyond rent and ancillary costs (TBK Art. 346).
• —On plots bordering groves and forest, zoning and title status (2B land, forest boundary) is checked before letting.
• —With corporate and diplomatic tenants payment comes from the institution; whether the institution or the individual is named as tenant matters for tax and eviction.
• —There is holiday-use demand on the Kilyos and Black Sea coast. A letting of up to one hundred days counts as tourism letting under Law No. 7464 and needs a permit from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the unanimous consent of every unit owner in the building, and a plaque at the entrance (Arts. 2 and 3). Lettings of more than one hundred days at a time fall outside the Law (Art. 1(3)), but that is not a blanket exemption: if the same home is let more than four times within a year of the first contract, an administrative fine applies (Art. 4(1)(g)).