The annual cost of owning a home in Alanya

When buying an apartment in Alanya the figure everyone discusses is the price. Yet what the property costs you each year should often weigh on the decision more heavily than the price does. Item by item.

Service charge

The largest and most variable item. In a complex with a pool, security, a gym and a gardener, the monthly charge runs between €80 and €150. In a small building with no shared facilities it can be €15–30.

Two things determine it: how many apartments the complex has, and what it provides. In a thirty-apartment complex the cost of maintaining a pool is divided by thirty; in a complex of a hundred and fifty the same service costs far less per household. Small, well-equipped complexes sound appealing and carry the highest charges.

Property tax

Residential property tax in Turkey is low: 0.1% of the municipal assessed value, or 0.2% within metropolitan boundaries. Alanya falls inside one. It is paid in two instalments a year and comes to roughly €50–150 for a typical apartment.

Earthquake insurance and home cover

Compulsory earthquake insurance (DASK) costs €30–80 a year and is required for utility contracts. Optional home insurance can be added on top; it is worth having if a furnished apartment is being let.

Utilities

Standing charges for electricity and water run even in the months you are not there. In an apartment empty all year that comes to €100–200. Buildings without an occupancy permit are charged at higher tariffs — which is exactly why it is checked before purchase.

Management

If you will be away for most of the year, someone needs a key: airing the place, small repairs, tenant arrivals and departures, paying the service charge. That service runs €300–600 a year; with rental management included it is usually calculated at 15–20% of rental income.

In short

For a two-bedroom apartment in a mid-sized complex with shared facilities, the annual total lands roughly between €1,500 and €2,200. What that figure means depends on whether you let the property: an apartment rented at €700 a month covers it in two months.

When we present a property we tell you its service charge and occupancy-permit status up front. Learned late, these are a surprise; known early, they are what decides the purchase.