Independent Unit Number — Red Flags in a Turkish Property Purchase
The independent unit number, bağımsız bölüm numarası, is one of the identifiers that ties a condominium apartment, shop or other separately usable section to the land-registry record and the approved condominium project. A buyer should not treat it as a decorative number on a door. In a multi-block development, the same floor and similar apartment numbers may exist in different blocks, and sales brochures can use commercial numbering that differs from the legally registered unit. The red-flag question is therefore whether the unit being shown, priced and contracted is the same independent unit that appears in the current title record and the approved project.
Red flags that require an explanation
A different number on the door, electricity bill, management ledger or sales plan is not automatically proof of a defect, because buildings sometimes use internal numbering conventions. It becomes a serious warning when the difference cannot be reconciled to the official project and registry. The risk is greater if the block, floor, unit type or land share also differs. A seller who says that “everyone in the building uses the new numbers” should be able to show the municipal or condominium documentation that explains the change and its connection to the registered independent unit.
Another warning is a unit whose physical location does not correspond to the approved architectural project. For example, the buyer may be shown a corner flat with a terrace while the registered independent unit of the same number is an internal flat on another floor. Likewise, a storage room, parking space or terrace presented as part of the apartment may be a common area or an appurtenance of another unit. The independent-unit check must therefore include the unit number together with block, floor, use type, appurtenances and arsa payı where these details are relevant.
What the official records should establish
TKGM guidance on condominium ownership and construction servitude describes independent units as separately usable sections created within the legal condominium structure and records their unit number, floor, block, type and land share in the establishment process. The safest comparison is between a current land-registry record and the approved project that identifies the same unit. Old title copies can be useful for history, but they should not replace a current record if the transaction is approaching signature or payment.
A change of numbering also needs a traceable legal basis. Renumbering may be connected with a project amendment, correction, merger, subdivision or later registration process. The buyer should be able to follow the chain from the previous identifier to the current one without guessing. If the seller cannot explain why the sale contract names one unit while the registry names another, the inconsistency should be resolved before money is released.
High-risk combinations
The strongest warning is not a single typo but several mismatches pointing in the same direction: a different block, a different floor, a different independent-unit number and a different land share. Another serious pattern is when the seller provides only screenshots or a sales office plan and avoids providing the current registry record. A third is when the physical apartment has been combined with or separated from a neighboring unit without matching registration. Such situations can affect what the buyer actually acquires, the legality of alterations, future financing and resale.
Red flags also arise when the unit number is correct but the registered use is not what the buyer expects. An independent unit registered as a shop, office or another use should not be assumed to be a residential apartment solely because it is occupied as one. Unit identity and registered use are different facts and both need to match the intended purchase.
Practical buyer response
Before signing, write down the exact province, district, neighbourhood, ada/parsel, block, floor, independent-unit number and registered use. Compare them with the property physically visited and with the approved project. If one element conflicts, obtain the document that legally explains the difference. Do not solve an identity conflict by relying on a price discount or a promise that the record can be corrected later; first determine whether correction is possible, who must complete it and whether completion is a condition of the sale.
A clean independent-unit file should allow a third person to identify the purchased unit without seeing the advertisement or relying on the seller’s memory. That is the practical standard: the physical unit, the contract, the current title record and the approved project should all point to the same legal object.
Official sources
- Tapu ve Kadastro Genel Müdürlüğü (TKGM), guidance on Kat İrtifakı and Kat Mülkiyeti.
- Law No. 634 on Condominium Ownership (Kat Mülkiyeti Kanunu).
Additional questions and context
How can independent-unit number verification affect future resale?
Red flags include a door number that does not match the legal unit, a floor conflict, “apartment” marketing while the registered type differs, inability to show the unit in the registry, or unexplained mixing of Kat İrtifakı and Kat Mülkiyeti. Red flags include a door number that does not match the legal unit, a floor conflict, “apartment” marketing while the registered type differs, inability to show the unit in the registry, or unexplained mixing of Kat İrtifakı and Kat Mülkiyeti. This record applies that evidence specifically to independent-unit number verification, and should be reconciled to the exact property rather than generalized from another unit.
Which document will a later buyer ask for — independent-unit number verification?
Red flags include a door number that does not match the legal unit, a floor conflict, “apartment” marketing while the registered type differs, inability to show the unit in the registry, or unexplained mixing of Kat İrtifakı and Kat Mülkiyeti. Red flags include a door number that does not match the legal unit, a floor conflict, “apartment” marketing while the registered type differs, inability to show the unit in the registry, or unexplained mixing of Kat İrtifakı and Kat Mülkiyeti. For independent-unit number verification, preserve the current official record, its date and the identifiers used to reach the conclusion.
What correction is easier to solve before purchase than after it — independent-unit number verification?
Red flags include a door number that does not match the legal unit, a floor conflict, “apartment” marketing while the registered type differs, inability to show the unit in the registry, or unexplained mixing of Kat İrtifakı and Kat Mülkiyeti. Red flags include a door number that does not match the legal unit, a floor conflict, “apartment” marketing while the registered type differs, inability to show the unit in the registry, or unexplained mixing of Kat İrtifakı and Kat Mülkiyeti. For independent-unit number verification, an unresolved conflict remains a transaction condition until the competent record or authority resolves it.