{"id":52265,"date":"2025-07-14T10:14:41","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T07:14:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orsiad.com.tr\/?p=52265"},"modified":"2025-07-14T10:14:41","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T07:14:41","slug":"a-tax-on-idle-land-should-be-levied-on-those-who-hinder-housing-production","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orsiad.com.tr\/en\/a-tax-on-idle-land-should-be-levied-on-those-who-hinder-housing-production.html","title":{"rendered":"\u201cA tax on idle land should be levied on those who hinder housing production\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pointing out that the construction sector has not reached the desired level because of various problems, Alg\u00fcn Holding Chairman Cihat Alg\u00fcn<\/strong> listed his solutions for what he sees as the biggest issue: securing land for development. \u201cIn our country, obtaining land is a major problem; the costs are very high,\u201d he said. \u201cMany owners, especially those holding parcels in city centers, prefer to wait rather than sell. That stalls housing production. If a landowner doesn\u2019t put the property on the market, develop a project, or otherwise utilise it, that owner should have to pay tax. A fairer valuation system should be introduced, a reasonable price determined, and the tax mechanism revised accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alg\u00fcn noted that construction is indispensable to the economy because it creates demand and jobs across more than 200 subsectors. Yet, despite this importance, the sector still struggles, largely because suitable land is so hard to find.<\/p>\n

Turkey\u2019s normal annual need for new homes is about one million, Alg\u00fcn reminded. \u201cAfter recent earthquake disasters, that figure has risen much higher. Add the roughly six million risky homes that need rebuilding, and the sector\u2019s importance is plain. Despite all this demand, supply is insufficient, chiefly because branded-housing developers face huge difficulties sourcing land. That\u2019s why the state must prioritise measures to lower land costs if we hope to achieve the necessary urban renewal.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIdle plots disrupt production\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cLand is the fundamental raw material of housing,\u201d Alg\u00fcn said, \u201cbut securing it has become extremely difficult in Turkey.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cLand prices are sky-high. Most landowners belong to upper-income groups, and instead of selling plots\u2014particularly those in city centers\u2014they choose to sit tight. That wait-and-see approach stalls housing production.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo solve this, an \u2018idle-land tax\u2019<\/strong> should be introduced. If an owner doesn\u2019t sell, develop, or partner with a firm to use the land, a set percentage tax should be levied. The rate ought to rise step-by-step each year so plots don\u2019t sit unused for long.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cA new tax system is needed\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cToday, there\u2019s a huge gap between a plot\u2019s declared value and its true market value. We need a fairer appraisal method, a realistic valuation, and a tax regime built on that figure.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, in year one a tax equal to 10 percent of the assessed value could be charged; if the land still isn\u2019t utilised, the rate could climb in later years to 20 percent, then 30 percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the same way, a multi-property tax<\/strong> could be applied to people who own multiple dwellings but keep them off the market. That would both encourage housing production and create a more balanced supply-demand structure in real estate.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pointing out that the construction sector has not reached the desired level because of various problems, Alg\u00fcn Holding Chairman Cihat Alg\u00fcn listed his solutions for what he sees as the biggest issue: securing land for development. \u201cIn our country, obtaining land is a major problem; the costs are very high,\u201d he said. \u201cMany owners, especially […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":52262,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[250,254],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-headline-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/orsiad.com.tr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Cihat-Algun1-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orsiad.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orsiad.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orsiad.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orsiad.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orsiad.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52265"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/orsiad.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52266,"href":"https:\/\/orsiad.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52265\/revisions\/52266"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orsiad.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orsiad.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orsiad.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orsiad.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}