Question: About a year ago I purchased a lower ground floor apartment in a small complex in Hisaronu Turkey. The vendors owned a ground floor apartment with a lower ground floor cellar which they have converted in to an apartment. . The buying process seemed all to be going according to what I had researched and I now have possession of a Tapu (please find attached for you to view). However, whilst chatting to a "local English property entrepreneur" one evening he informed me that he didn't think one could sell a lower ground floor space separately to the apartment it was originally part of. He said something about it being lower than road level and is regarded as a cellar, if this may be true, you can see that the entrance opens out to the pool area and the road actually runs below that.
There are two other apartment blocks in the complex each with a ground floor apartment (which are privately owned) and a lower ground floor apartment still owned by Nicholas Group who built the complex and manage it. Each apartment has its own metered water supply. These lower ground floor apartments appear to be converted but are not currently for sale.
So, just to clarify. My question is basically this, have I been sold something that should not have been sold?
Answer: The Tapu (title deed) that you have sent shows that the property that you have bought is legally classified as a cellar. Technically you should therefore not use it as a residential dwelling – i.e. you should only use it as a cellar and are not able to legally use it for living in. Having said that, this situation is fairly common in Turkey and it may be possible to modify the classification of your property so that it obtains its Habitation Certificate which will allow you to use it as a dwelling. This is not guaranteed and it may be that you not be able to use the property for anything other than as a cellar. I would recommend that you get in contact with your lawyer as soon as possible as they will be able to talk through the options with you.
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