Usufruct Right and the Right of Residence

A property's owner and the person who uses it are not always the same. The Turkish Civil Code sets out servitude rights that allow someone other than the owner to use and benefit from a property. The two most common in housing are the usufruct right (intifa hakkı) and the right of residence (oturma / sükna hakkı).

Usufruct right

A usufruct right gives its holder the power to use a property and benefit from it (for example, to let it and collect the rent). It is most often seen when parents transfer a home to their children while reserving a usufruct right for themselves. A usufruct right established in favor of an individual ends, at the latest, on that person's death.

Right of residence

A right of residence gives its holder the authority to live in a building or part of it. It is narrower than a usufruct right and, as a rule, cannot be transferred or pass to heirs.

What this means for a buyer

• If you buy a home carrying a usufruct or residence-right annotation, ownership becomes yours, but the right holder continues to use the home.
• Rental income can also belong to the usufruct right holder.
• Properties burdened this way trade noticeably below market value; the size of the discount depends on the right holder's age and the duration of the right.
• Removing the right requires either the holder's application to strike it from the deed, or their death.