Shared title deeds in Turkey: what do 1/1, 1/2 and 1/4 mean?

On a Turkish title deed (tapu), 1/1 means you own the whole property. 1/2 means you own half of it, 1/4 a quarter. The number on top is the share (pay), the number below is the denominator (payda): the denominator tells you into how many equal parts the property is divided, and the share tells you how many of those parts are yours.

Imagine you open the title record of an inherited field on e-Devlet and see "3/16" next to your name. The first two questions are always the same: "How much land is that?" and "Can I sell it on my own?" The first answer is simple arithmetic. The second is yes, but the pre-emption right that follows a sale changed in 2026, and sellers and buyers who miss this can be caught off guard.

How to read the share and the denominator on a tapu

A fraction on a shared title expresses a ratio. However large the denominator, what matters is the ratio between the two numbers. As an inheritance passes through generations, denominators grow: a fraction like 2400/48000 looks alarming but is simply 1/20.

One common confusion first. A fraction such as 120/2400 on the title of an apartment is usually the land share (arsa payı): the share in the plot under the building that is attached to your flat. If you bought the flat alone, your share in the flat itself is still 1/1. I explain how land share is set and why it matters in the land share article. This article is about shared titles, where more than one person co-owns the same property.

How many square metres is your share?

The formula is one line: area × share ÷ denominator. If you hold 3/16 of a 12,000 m² field, 12,000 × 3 ÷ 16 = 2,250 m², or 2.25 dönüm. The same works for flats: a 1/2 share of a 140 m² flat corresponds to 70 m².

Shared ownership or joint ownership?

If the tapu says "elbirliği" or "iştirak halinde" instead of a fraction, the situation is different. In joint ownership the owners have no defined shares; each one's right extends over the whole property. The most common case is an undivided inheritance: the heirs take over the property together, without the title showing who owns how much.

In joint ownership, unless the law or a contract says otherwise, every act of management or disposal needs the unanimous decision of all owners. One heir cannot sell at the land registry on their own. If the heirs agree to move to shared ownership, each heir's statutory share is written on the tapu as a fraction. For example, when someone leaves a spouse and two children, the spouse receives 1/4 and each child 3/8. If one child later dies and leaves that share to two children, each grandchild holds 3/16. This is how denominators grow.

Can you sell your share on your own?

In shared ownership, yes. The law is explicit: a share can be transferred, mortgaged and seized by creditors. You do not need the other co-owners' consent to sell your share; the sale is a normal transfer at the land registry.

The limit starts with acts that affect the whole property. Selling the whole property, building on it or changing its use requires the consent of all co-owners, unless they unanimously agreed otherwise. A single co-owner saying "no" stops the sale of the whole property. Agricultural land is also subject to division and fragmentation limits (Law No. 5403); if you are buying or selling a share in a field, ask the land registry about the current rules before the transaction.

The pre-emption right (şufa): what changed in 2026?

If a co-owner sells their share to a third party, the other co-owners can use their pre-emption right. The right is exercised by suing the buyer; if the case succeeds, the share passes from the buyer to the co-owner who used the right. The sale is notified to the other co-owners through a notary, by either the buyer or the seller.

Law No. 7571, published in the Official Gazette on 25 December 2025, made two important changes:

The market value rule matters in practice. Before, when a sale was declared at a low price, the co-owner using pre-emption could take the share at that low price. Now they must deposit the market value set by the judge. This makes under-declaring the price riskier for both buyer and seller. Which rule applies to sales made and cases filed before the change should be assessed with a lawyer.

Waiving the pre-emption right in advance is possible but formal: a general waiver must be made in official form and annotated on the land register; waiving it for a specific sale must be in writing and can be done before or after the sale.

When co-owners cannot agree: partition

Unless there is an obligation to keep the co-ownership, each co-owner can ask for the property to be divided. In Turkey this is known as "izale-i şuyu". Since 2023, applying to a mediator is mandatory before filing the case.

The court first checks whether the property can be divided in kind; if the parts are unequal in value, the smaller part is compensated with money. If division is not suitable, or the property cannot be divided without a significant loss of value, the court orders a sale by public auction. An auction limited to the co-owners requires the consent of all co-owners.

Six checks before buying a shared title

1. Know the co-owners. Check how many co-owners are on the title and who they are. The more co-owners, the harder joint decisions become.
2. Find out the actual use. Who uses the property today, and which part? Is there a notarised use agreement annotated on the title?
3. Ask about subdivision. If you may want to turn your share into a separate plot, ask the municipality about zoning and minimum plot size.
4. Check encumbrances. Is a seizure, mortgage or annotation registered on the share you are buying, on another share, or on the whole property?
5. Close the pre-emption risk. Make sure the sale is notified to the other co-owners through a notary. The three-month period only starts with this notice.
6. Discuss the mortgage early. Banks are cautious about shared titles. Banks that lend on co-owned property usually require a mortgage on the whole property and the signatures of all owners. Get your bank's conditions in writing.

In short: the fraction on the tapu tells you how much you own, not where. You can sell your share on your own, but behind the sale there is now a one-year window for a pre-emption claim and a market value calculation. If you are buying or selling a shared property and want to go through the numbers and the process together, write to me. If you would like professional guidance, feel free to get in touch.