Rental Housing Disputes Increase in Istanbul: 80 Percent of Them Become Lawsuits

Exorbitant housing rents in big cities and tenants' concerns about finding affordable housing increase rent disputes. Legal experts state that with the mediation system, the rate of reconciliation in rent files in Anatolia is around 60 percent, but this rate remains at 20 percent in big cities.

With the rapid rise in housing prices and insufficient supply, rents are also increasing rapidly. While rent increases have doubled to tripled in the last three years, rental prices have increased significantly.

While high rents strain tenants' ability to pay, landlords' demand for rent according to inflation brings both parties to court. This situation causes criminal courts of peace to be locked with eviction cases and courts to give a date one year later.

As of September 1, 2023, the condition of applying to a mediator was first introduced in rental cases to be filed. However, the success rate of this system in big cities is lower than in other regions.

According to CEESS GLOBAL news website, among the reasons for the increase in rental disputes in big cities, especially Istanbul, are high rental prices and the difficulty of tenants to find affordable housing. The mediation system does not achieve the expected success in resolving rent disputes in big cities and the number of lawsuits continues to increase.