What Is Urban Transformation, and How Does the Process Work in Hatay?
6/1/2026 · 7 min read
Urban transformation is both a post-earthquake necessity and an area reshaping Hatay's real estate market as an opportunity. Understanding the process matters both for existing property owners and for anyone looking to invest in a district being rebuilt. In this article, we explain what urban transformation is and how the process works in Hatay.
What Is Urban Transformation?
Urban transformation is the process of demolishing buildings that carry earthquake risk or have been damaged, and rebuilding them to meet the current seismic code as safe structures. In Hatay, this process moves forward both through state-led TOKİ projects and through build-for-land-share models where the private sector agrees directly with rights holders.
How Is a Risky-Building Assessment Done?
For a building to be classified as risky, a licensed institution must carry out a technical inspection and submit a report to the relevant directorate. Most of these assessments in post-earthquake Hatay have been formally completed, though the process is still ongoing for some parcels. When evaluating a property, confirming what stage this assessment is at is the first priority.
Rights-Holder Status and the Build-for-Land-Share Model
In the build-for-land-share model, the landowner transfers ownership to a contractor, who builds the structure and delivers an agreed number of units back to the landowner in return. Rights-holder status on these parcels is sometimes split among multiple people, and inheritance processes or missing paperwork can draw the agreement out. Before evaluating an urban transformation parcel, it's worth confirming upfront whether rights-holder status is clear.
TOKİ Projects vs. the Private-Sector Model
TOKİ projects: standardized designs, state-backed financing options, generally more predictable delivery dates
Private-sector build-for-land-share: design and quality vary by location and contractor, with more room for negotiation on delivery terms
In either model, checking the building inspection firm's registration and track record matters
Where's the Opportunity for Investors?
An investor who evaluates an urban transformation parcel early, with proper due diligence, can benefit favorably from the value appreciation that follows once construction is complete. But capturing that opportunity requires fully verifying rights-holder status and zoning; otherwise, the process can turn into an uncertain wait.
Tax and Fee Advantages in Urban Transformation
Some transactions under urban transformation can receive different tax and fee treatment compared with a standard sale: certain transactions during the demolition and rebuilding of a building classified as risky can be exempt from fees. The scope and current terms of these exemptions need to be confirmed separately for each project.
Rental Assistance and Temporary Housing Support
Rights holders whose buildings are demolished under risky-building status can receive rental assistance from the state until the new structure is completed. This support is an important detail to understand for both existing owners and investors evaluating an urban transformation parcel, since it shapes the financial side of the process.
A Checklist Before Signing an Agreement
Reviewing the contractor's building inspection registration and previous projects
Making sure the delivery date and any penalties for delay are clearly defined in the build-for-land-share agreement
Confirming the rights-holder share and distribution against the title deed record
Verifying the soil survey and structural project approval are already complete
How Building Standards Changed After the Earthquake
Buildings rebuilt under urban transformation are designed to meet the current requirements of Türkiye's 2018 Building Earthquake Code, a standard that's noticeably stricter than older building codes on multiple fronts, from soil-survey-based foundation design to the quality of materials used. That gap explains why a newly completed building is considered significantly safer than one built before the earthquake.
Disputes That Can Arise During the Process
The most common disputes in urban transformation involve how shares are split among rights holders, delays past the delivery date, and whether the delivered unit matches what the agreement specified. Most of these disputes can be prevented upfront by setting clear, detailed terms at the contract stage.
Can Foreign Investors Buy an Urban Transformation Parcel?
Yes; a foreign investor can buy a rights-holder position under urban transformation, or a completed build-for-land-share unit, as long as reciprocity and military-zone requirements are met. But if the process is still ongoing (a unit not yet delivered, being acquired from the current rights holder), the legal validity of the agreement and the rights-holder status needs particularly careful review; we recommend extra legal due diligence beyond a standard title transfer for this kind of transaction.
The Municipality's Role in Urban Transformation
The municipality is involved at multiple stages of urban transformation, from approving the zoning plan to issuing the building permit. Verifying a parcel's current urban transformation status directly with the municipality's zoning department is the most reliable way to get an official, up-to-date picture; we confirm this information regularly on your behalf as part of our advisory process.
How Value Appreciation Plays Out in Completed Areas
In an area where urban transformation is complete, new roads and infrastructure, a modern building stock and a stronger sense of security combine to noticeably lift both residential and commercial demand. That increase comes not from a single building but from a shift across an entire neighborhood's character: new businesses opening, renewed sidewalks and social amenities all raise the area's appeal together. When evaluating a parcel under urban transformation, it's worth tracking how far the transformation around it has progressed, not just your own building.
Approached with the right information, urban transformation in Hatay offers both a safe place to live and a concrete investment opportunity. Through our Urban Transformation Consulting service, we review everything from rights-holder status to the building inspection firm's track record on your behalf.
From the official data
Building Permits and Occupancy Permits: A Signal of New Housing Supply
According to TurkStat, dwellings with a building permit in Hatay numbered 8,064 in 2022, 3,970 in 2023, 34,671 in 2024 and 68,990 in 2025. Dwellings with an occupancy permit over the same years were 10,095, 1,600, 8,457, 24,476.
Hatay's share of national permitted dwellings in 2025 is 5.8%, and its share of occupancy permits 3.5%, while it holds 1.8% of Türkiye's population. Its permit share is therefore about 3.2 times its population share: construction activity is disproportionately intense.
In 2024–2025, 103,661 dwellings received permits against 32,933 that received occupancy permits, a ratio of about 3.1 to one. This suggests that a large share of permitted homes had not yet received occupancy by the end of 2025, i.e. may still be under construction. The two flows are not an exact stock difference (permit-to-occupancy can take years, and some permits are renewed or cancelled), so this is a directional signal, not a stock calculation.
What it means for an investor: homes receiving occupancy over the coming years can affect first-hand sales and rental supply. Before buying, the permit and occupancy status and the construction stage of a specific project should be verified separately in the official records.
Limitation: From Q2 2025 TurkStat widened coverage beyond municipalities to all authorities entitled to issue building documents, so the 2025 figure is not fully comparable with earlier years and the effect of the change in Hatay cannot be separated from the table. 2024–2025 data have been revised. Unpermitted buildings are out of scope; the data count dwellings, not quality or price.
According to statements by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change and TOKİ, the final ceremony on 27 December 2025 completed 455,357 independent units across the 11 earthquake-region provinces, of which 153,755 are in Hatay. At the final ceremony in Hatay, 55,681 independent units were drawn by lot.
Indicator
Value
Year
Source
Homes and workplaces built in Hatay (independent units)
Hatay holds about a third (33.8%) of the independent units built in the region, or roughly 9.7 units per 100 registered residents (1,577,531). For comparison, TurkStat's occupancy-permit statistics show 32,933 dwellings for Hatay in 2024–2025; the two figures do not use the same measure and TurkStat's coverage widened from Q2 2025, so they should not be divided by one another, and the sources do not say how much of these deliveries the TurkStat figure includes.
What it means for an investor: these units were produced to be delivered to entitled owners, so a large part of the newly built stock does not enter the ordinary sale-and-purchase market directly (interpretation). The conditions for later sale or rental of delivered homes must be verified separately in the relevant legislation and title records; these figures do not show an effect on prices or rents.
Limitation: The figures rest on the institutions' press statements (they are not an audited statistical series). No split into homes and workplaces is given for Hatay; the split into 367,995 housing units, 65,672 village houses and 21,690 workplaces applies only to the regional total. Whether each unit has been taken over, and its occupancy status, is not shown.
