A month in Istanbul

Turkish law treats a month in a flat as a tourism rental. Law 7464 covers every letting of a home for up to 100 days, for any purpose, so a 30 night stay needs the same Ministry of Culture and Tourism permit, plaque and listed permit number as a weekend. The contract ends on the date it states.

Past 100 days in one contract, the letting leaves Law 7464 and becomes an ordinary lease under the Code of Obligations. The Code's rules for homes do not cover holiday property let for six months or less. Where they do apply, a deposit may not exceed three months' rent, and a cash deposit goes into a bank savings account that the landlord cannot draw on alone.

The law also fines a landlord 1,000,000 TL for letting the same home more than four times within a year on contracts of over 100 days each.

Kadıköy and Moda on the Asian side, Cihangir above the Bosphorus in Beyoğlu, Nişantaşı in Şişli and Beşiktaş on the shore are residential districts that suit a month. Sultanahmet and Karaköy suit shorter stays near the sights.

With a car, compare the month against İSPARK's monthly fees before booking a flat without parking. The Eski Salı Pazarı car park in Kadıköy lists 5,500 TL a month, the Harbiye underground car park 8,200 TL, and the covered car parks in Cihangir and Maçka 9,800 TL. İSPARK does not say who may buy a monthly subscription, so ask at the car park.

Living on the Asian side and driving to Europe adds a toll to every crossing: 59 TL on the 15 July Martyrs or Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in 2026, or 330 TL by day in the Eurasia Tunnel. For a month of daily crossings, that line belongs in the budget next to the rent.

Citizens of the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada may stay up to 90 days in any 180 without a visa, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and German and French citizens up to 90 days. Other passports may need an e-Visa from the official evisa.gov.tr site, which covers tourism and commerce only. The passport must be valid for at least 60 days beyond the permitted stay; the ministry lists the nationalities exempt from that rule.

A stay beyond 90 days, or beyond the visa-free period, needs a residence permit. Law 6458 allows a short-term permit for tourism, for up to two years at a time, and asks for an address in Turkey and housing that meets general health and safety standards. First applications go through the e-İkamet system.

At check-in the host records the passport and reports it to the police, as a hotel does, so keep it at hand on arrival day.

Airbnb calls 28 nights or more a monthly stay. It charges the first month up front and releases it to the host 24 hours after check-in, then charges each later month 10 days before it starts. A long-term cancellation policy applies, and cancelling after the stay has begun costs the following month. How other platforms label long stays was not checked.

Whatever the platform calls it, the Turkish rule stays the same: a flat let for up to 100 days shows its permit number in the listing.

A listing without a permit number. The law fines platforms that keep an unpermitted flat online after a Ministry warning. A permitted host who does not hand over the flat as agreed is fined, and must return the payment within 15 days or face a larger fine.

A listing that says nothing about parking. The regulation requires the host to state whether parking comes with the flat, so ask before paying.

The tax line. Hotels add the 1% accommodation tax as a separate invoice line in 2026; whether a flat host adds it was not confirmed, so ask for the full price in writing.

Staying past 90 days on a visa exemption without applying for a residence permit.