Darren and Louise Tobia from Poole in Dorset were trying in 2017 to decide whether to buy a home (which they would eventually retire to) in Spain or Turkey, their two favourite places to holiday.
‘Then, on the spur of the moment, I decided to fly to Turkey to view some property,’ says Darren, 62, who took retirement aged 50 after a successful career in boat building.
‘Louise was shocked I was going away without her, but within a morning I had found just what we wanted and purchased outright an amazing two-bedroom, two bathroom duplex apartment in Gulluk, on the Bodrum peninsula.
The apartment on a new development was in an area the couple knew well and, thankfully for Darren, Louise wept with joy when she first saw it a few months later. And so began their shift from life on the English south coast to life in the south-west of Turkey.
Darren and Louise Tobia live in Dalyan, Turkey, where bills are lower than in UK
They found a five-bedroom, five-bathroom villa with a pool in the small fishing town
Louise, 57, was working as a communication support leader for the deaf community, so only went to the apartment for holidays, but within three years moved there permanently while keeping their house in Poole. The couple transferred some of their savings to Turkey but Darren says: ‘We kept a lump sum in the UK to keep our options open. It was the best thing we have ever done.’
For a full-time retirement home, Darren and Louise were after something a little bigger where they could invite their five grown-up children to stay.
‘We went on a road trip for a week viewing various amazing towns on the coast,’ says Darren.
They found a five-bedroom, five-bathroom villa with a pool in Dalyan, a small fishing town on a river delta famed for its loggerhead turtles.
‘We decided to rent for six months to make sure that we loved the place as much as we thought we did,’ says Darren. ‘Our duplex sold for a good profit and we loved the villa so signed a rental contract until November 2028.’
The buying and selling process is much simpler in Turkey than in the UK. Now that foreign buyers do not need to apply for permission from the government, the conveyancing process can take as little as five working days if both the buyer, their funds and the seller are in Turkey.
On the periphery of Europe, Turkey might not be the obvious choice for British retirees but, after years of political insecurity, the market for UK buyers has returned.
About 32,000 Britons own property in Turkey, much of it around the Aegean and Mediterranean coastlines, especially Fethiye, known as the ‘Little Britain’ resort with its knock-off stores like Azda and Marc Spenger.
The river delta on the south-west coast is famed for its loggerhead turtles
About 32,000 Britons own property in Turkey, including in Dalyan
Darren says they pivoted from looking to retire to Spain to Turkey because properties were ‘much better value for money’, and that remains true of many coastal locations when compared with the Costas.
Their villa costs £1,000 per month to rent, which includes a pool man, gardener, electricity, water and insurance. Across the board in Turkey rent is 60 per cent lower than the UK, according to cost-of-living database Numbeo.com.
‘Turkey isn’t an expensive country, despite inflation, and we find it’s still an awful lot cheaper than the UK,’ Darren adds.
You might pay from £400,000-£450,000 for a five-bedroom villa in the area, according to Julian Walker of the agent Spot Blue. He says that, while prices have increased since Covid, the depreciation of the Turkish lira (TL) means that £1 buys a lot more than five years ago: from 7.5 TL it’s 44 TL now.
Inflation has been problematical, with interest rates propping up the currency, but the upside is you can earn very healthy interest. Currently at 50 per cent, the Central Bank of Turkey’s main interest rate means mortgages are a definite no-no for buyers, but those holding Turkish lira are cashing in.
Darren says: ‘The banks pay an amazing monthly interest rate on your savings – we are getting 48.5 per cent – which you can live on with a relatively small balance.’
So how much does it cost to live in Turkey comfortably?
With the average person in Turkey expected to live on around £460 (20,463 TL) a month without rent, this is 87 per cent less than is needed for a comfortable retirement in the UK, where £43,100 a year (£3,592 a month) is required, according to the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA), or £31,300 a year (£2,608 a month) for a ‘moderate’ lifestyle.
In comparison, Turkish retirees can live on around £700 a month (£8,400 a year), according to Lisa Pyle of property consultant Yesilyurt Danismanlik.
The Essex-born estate agent and developer, who has lived in Turkey for 25 years, has a number of expat neighbours in the port city of Side. ‘One couple, who eat out every night, live on around £1,000 a month.’
In the UK, a couple living a comfortable retirement who eat out twice a week would need £4,917 a month, according to the PLSA. Lisa Pyle adds retirees tend to buy either a two/three-bedroom apartments on a complex for £125,000-£170,000, or a three-bedroom villa with a pool from £250,000. Buying costs are around 7-8 per cent of the purchase price.
Life in Turkey is good for the Tobias, who say they are always busy
An advantage of the Antalya province, including Belek, Side and Alanya, is that the winter climate is mild – around 15-17C (59-63F) – so heating bills are minimal, removing any worries about the removal of the winter fuel allowances.
Although most bills are covered by their rent, Darren keeps an eye on them. ‘The electricity during the summer, with just the two of us, is around £30 per month, water bills are negligible. Council tax is paid monthly – around £100 per year – and it includes our bins being emptied three times a week,’ he says. He adds their ‘slow’ 16Mbps broadband is only £8 per month but sufficient to stream English channels. Their telephone contract is £5 per month. ‘Petrol at £1 a litre and car insurance are on par with the UK but buying a car here is more expensive.’
Inflation means the cost of eating out is variable. ‘Dining out is inexpensive with typical mains costing around £10 but a good steak is approximately £18. Restaurants away from the riverfront are less expensive. A half-decent bottle of wine costs £15, but a pint on draught of the Turkish lager, Efes, is just £2.
‘In an upmarket restaurant for our date nights our average bill is £45, which includes a bottle of wine. Many of the restaurants cater for various allergies, which is great as Louise is gluten intolerant.’
Private healthcare is relatively affordable but expats who have lived in Turkey for over a year can pay into the state-run healthcare, Sosyal Guvenlik Kurumu.
‘We can walk into our local doctor’s surgery and be seen by an English-speaking doctor before you can even sit down in the waiting area, for free. The hospitals are cutting edge with equipment that I have never seen before,’ says Darren.
Having just had a full set of dental implants that cost £9,000 rather than around £25,000 in the UK, he brings up ‘Turkey teeth’ – the gleaming white smile sought by cosmetic surgery tourists. ‘The cost of dentistry here is a fraction of the cost of the UK.’ Vet bills for their rescue dog, Ghost, are also refreshingly low. ‘We had him chipped and vaccinated including a rabies jab – all for £60.’
Darren says dining out is inexpensive with typical mains costing around £10
Travelling by bus or train is also excellent value for money. You can hail a dolmus bus from anywhere with a cost of £2 for a ten-mile trip. ‘We just booked a four-berth sleeper cabin on a train from Ankara to Kars, 26 hours each way for a total of £70.’
Life in Turkey is good for the Tobias, who say they are always busy. ‘What do we do all day? We are always dog walking or helping a friend with some DIY project, whether Turkish or English. Everyone here helps each other, like it used to be in the UK,’ says Darren. ‘This summer has been amazing with family and friends visiting. They’re the only thing we miss about the UK – and a good bath – not a Turkish one as I prefer a relaxing soak than a hammam [steam bath].
‘Our biggest challenge living in Turkey is deciding which restaurant to eat in. We go back to our Dorset house twice a year but, quite frankly, the cost of living in the UK scares me.’
Turkey doesn’t have a visa specifically for retirees, but if you wish to remain in the country for more than three months you need to apply for a short-term residency permit within a month of your arrival. Foreign nationals can apply for a two-year permit, even if renters, like Darren and Louise. After holding a residence permit for eight consecutive years they can apply for a long-term residency permit (if they have not spent six to 12 months living outside Turkey in that time), to be extended indefinitely.
There is also the ‘golden passport’ option: if a foreign national purchases a property in Turkey worth US $400,000 (£307,500) or more, they can get Turkish citizenship. This also offers visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to more than 110 countries.
But the property must be purchased from a Turkish citizen – or a property developer. At the land registry they must declare they will not sell it for three years, according to Yılmaz Ozdemir of Yılmaz Consultancy, a residency adviser (yilmazdanismanlik.net).
‘Once the residence permit is approved, they can apply for citizenship. If the foreigner already owns a property they purchased for $150,000, they can purchase another property for $250,000.’
For all residence permits you need to show proof of adequate assets – a month’s worth of Turkish minimum wage US $498 and public or private healthcare cover.
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