The rules that decide what you can build, repair and change on a protected plot — and the red flags that a practising lawyer and a real-estate agency advise checking before signing.
A SİT declaration changes what you can do with a plot before you even own it. Under Article 17/a of Law No. 2863, the regional conservation council's decision halts development plans of every scale on the land. The rules in this article are based on the official text of Law No. 2863 as of 7 November 2026.
What changes for the plot once it is declared a SİT area?
Once the halt under Article 17/a of Law No. 2863 applies, the development plans previously in force on the land stop being applied. In the gap, Article 17 requires the council to set transitional protection principles and conditions of use within three months.
That transitional regime is not meant to be permanent. Municipalities, governorships and the relevant institutions must prepare a conservation development plan (koruma amaçlı imar planı) and submit it to the council within three years. If compulsory reasons make that impossible, the council may extend the period with a reasoned decision, and the transitional protection rules continue to apply during the extension.
Is the plot inside a SİT area, or next to a registered building?
The regulation on conservation councils covers four categories: archaeological, urban, urban archaeological and historical SİT. Natural SİT is governed separately and is excluded from the regulations on registration and on conservation development plans. A buyer who sees the word SİT in the paperwork still needs to know which category applies.
Owners are not left to guess. Under Article 8 of Law No. 2863, decisions on protection zones and on the registration of objects are served on owners under Notification Law No. 7201. If the owner cannot be identified, the decision is published in the Resmî Gazete and on the ministry website for one month.
Boundary plots carry their own risk. A lawyer's commentary notes, as of 1 November 2026, that even a plot lying outside the SİT boundary may in practice require a regional conservation council opinion if it borders a registered object or gives onto it with its facade. For that reason, plots at the edge of a protected area should be checked before purchase, not after the first permit application is refused.
Red flags on villas: unapproved additions and fine surcharges
According to a real-estate agency, as of 6 November 2026, villas commonly show up with closed verandas, enlarged rooms, pools, pergolas and guest houses that are not in the approved project. These additions create problems with the municipality, and the argument that everyone in the area does the same thing does not remove the risk for the buyer.
The financial exposure is set out separately in Article 42 of Law No. 3194. The base fine for an unauthorised building rises by 80 per cent if the structure was put up in an area where building is prohibited, and by 50 per cent if it stands in a zone subject to a special construction regime under special laws.
What you may and may not do to the house: the permission chain
No construction or physical intervention may be made in a SİT area contrary to the decisions of the regional conservation council. Even repairs that do not require a building permit are not free: they are carried out with the permission and under the supervision of a KUDEB office, or of the council directorate where no such office exists. Any other intervention requires the regional council's permission.
For a restoration project on a protected or registered building, an architecture firm's description, as of 26 May 2026, sets out the order of approvals. The conservation council examines the project first and can approve it, approve it with conditions, or refuse it. Only after that decision does the municipality issue a building permit.
Buying a half-built plot: can construction continue?
A plot that was declared a SİT area does not automatically kill construction already under way. Under Article 17 of Law No. 2863, work may continue only if a lawful building permit had been obtained before the declaration and the plinth level (subasman) was already completed at that moment. If the subasman was not finished, the permit is cancelled.
For a buyer, this means the decisive question is not whether the project looks nearly finished. It is whether the plinth level (subasman) was complete before the SİT declaration. A lawful permit and a completed subasman are the conditions for continuation, but only where the area does not carry an absolute building ban; on such plots this rule gives no right to continue. If the subasman was not finished, the permit is cancelled.
Plots carrying an absolute building ban get no benefit from this rule at all. In a zone where the conservation plan forbids any construction, there is nothing to continue, even if a permit and a completed foundation existed earlier.
If the plot carries an absolute building ban: tax exemption and the right to swap
A plot with an absolute building ban because of archaeological or natural SİT status is exempt from all taxes, fees and duties. The exemption follows from Law No. 2863 and applies to the plot itself.
There are two exceptions. For commercially used property inside the boundaries of a metropolitan municipality, part of the taxes remains due. And plots with illegal structures do not benefit from the exemption until the structures are demolished or the violations are removed.
An owner of property in an absolute-ban zone may apply to exchange it for property belonging to the municipality or the provincial administration. The exchange is not automatic; it requires the owner to apply.