

A foreign investor buys property in Turkey for a clinic, medical center, private hospital or healthcare facility but later discovers zoning, building or licensing restrictions. Learn the critical due diligence checks, investment risks and legal remedies.
A foreign investor may purchase a building or commercial property in Turkey intending to establish a private hospital, medical center, outpatient clinic, physical therapy facility or another healthcare business. The location may appear commercially ideal, the building may be large enough for the planned operation and the seller may even describe the property as “suitable for healthcare use.”
However, purchasing property and obtaining authorization to provide healthcare services are entirely different legal matters.
The investor may discover after closing that the building does not satisfy the physical standards required for the intended healthcare institution, that the approved project or use creates problems, that substantial structural modifications are necessary, or that the proposed healthcare activity is subject to Ministry of Health planning and licensing requirements that cannot be solved merely by owning suitable real estate.
This risk became particularly important after major changes to the private healthcare regulatory framework in 2025. The new Private Hospitals Regulation was published on January 30, 2025, while a new Regulation on Private Healthcare Institutions Providing Outpatient Diagnosis and Treatment was published on April 19, 2025. The latter covers medical centers, polyclinics, physical therapy and rehabilitation institutions and private medical practices.
A foreign investor should therefore never purchase healthcare real estate based solely on the question:
“Can a medical business physically fit inside this building?”
The correct due diligence question is:
“Can the specific healthcare institution we intend to establish be legally licensed and operated from this exact property under the applicable healthcare, planning, construction and technical requirements?”
A property that works perfectly as an office, retail store or ordinary commercial building may be unsuitable for healthcare use.
Healthcare facilities are subject to regulatory requirements concerning matters such as:
building configuration,
medical service areas,
patient circulation,
accessibility,
technical infrastructure,
medical equipment,
personnel,
healthcare capacity,
emergency facilities,
specialized units, and
licensing.
The exact requirements depend on the type of healthcare institution.
This means the investor must identify the proposed healthcare model before evaluating the property.
Do not begin due diligence with the vague statement:
“We want to open a clinic.”
Determine precisely whether the investment involves:
a private hospital,
medical center,
polyclinic,
physical therapy and rehabilitation institution,
private medical practice, or
another regulated healthcare operation.
The April 2025 outpatient healthcare regulation specifically distinguishes medical centers, polyclinics, physical therapy and rehabilitation institutions and private medical practices.
Different categories can involve materially different licensing, ownership, staffing and physical requirements.
This distinction is fundamental.
The foreign investor may acquire legal ownership of the property.
But ownership does not itself create a right to operate a hospital or other regulated healthcare institution.
For example, under the current Private Hospitals Regulation, a private hospital licence is a Ministry-issued document showing that the hospital is suitable for healthcare service provision, while the activity permit identifies matters including the specialties, laboratories, medical service units, planned medical devices and bed capacity through which the hospital may operate.
The property acquisition and healthcare authorization must therefore be analyzed separately.
Commercial advertisements can be misleading.
A seller may describe a property as:
“hospital building,”
“medical building,”
“clinic-ready property,” or
“healthcare investment property.”
These expressions do not establish current regulatory suitability.
The investor should independently verify the building’s legal and technical status.
The investor should determine whether the property can lawfully support the intended healthcare use under the applicable planning framework.
Review:
current zoning plan,
plan notes,
parcel designation,
permitted uses,
higher-level planning restrictions,
building conditions, and
any planning proceedings affecting the parcel.
Do not assume that ordinary commercial zoning automatically resolves every healthcare-use issue.
Before acquisition, obtain and review:
building permit,
approved architectural project,
occupancy documentation,
revised building permits,
later project amendments,
municipal inspection records, and
any construction-enforcement proceedings.
The physical property should then be compared with these records.
A healthcare property may contain:
unauthorized additional floors,
enclosed terraces,
basement conversions,
additional rooms,
mezzanines,
extensions, or
structural modifications.
Even if those areas are commercially useful, their planning status may create serious problems during healthcare licensing.
The investor should therefore determine the lawful usable area, not merely the physical square-meter area advertised by the seller.
Under the 2025 Private Hospitals Regulation, private hospitals must satisfy prescribed minimum building, healthcare service, medical equipment and personnel standards. The Regulation also provides that private hospitals operate in detached buildings whose projects have been approved by the Ministry from the perspective of healthcare service provision and which satisfy the specified physical requirements.
This has major consequences for property acquisition.
A large commercial building should not automatically be purchased on the assumption that it can simply be converted into a private hospital.
The building should be evaluated not merely by a commercial architect but against the requirements applicable to healthcare facilities.
Potential issues can include:
patient circulation,
clinical areas,
emergency access,
medical units,
service areas,
technical infrastructure,
vertical circulation,
accessibility,
bed configuration, and
other healthcare-specific physical requirements.
An attractive building may require extensive reconstruction before it can satisfy the applicable standards.
Under the current 2025 framework, private hospitals are generally required to open with at least 100 patient beds, excluding observation beds, subject to the regulatory framework and applicable exceptions.
This demonstrates why an investor should identify the intended healthcare institution before buying real estate.
A property suitable for a medical center may be completely unsuitable for a private hospital project.
The April 2025 regulation applies to outpatient healthcare institutions including medical centers and polyclinics.
It requires healthcare institutions to satisfy the minimum building, service and personnel standards specified by the regulation.
Therefore, the investor should not apply hospital standards mechanically to a medical center, or assume that a property suitable for an ordinary medical practice will necessarily qualify for a medical center.
This distinction can prevent major investment mistakes.
Suppose a foreign investor finds a building with:
twenty examination rooms,
large waiting areas,
parking,
elevators, and
modern technical infrastructure.
The property may be physically impressive.
But physical space does not automatically create rights concerning:
medical specialties,
physician capacity,
specialized units,
medical devices, or
other regulated healthcare capacity.
The applicable Ministry planning and licensing framework must also be examined.
A foreign investor may approach the transaction primarily as a real estate investment.
That can be dangerous.
Healthcare is a regulated sector, and Ministry planning can affect the ability to establish or expand particular healthcare capacities.
The 2025 outpatient healthcare regulation specifically regulates the planning, establishment, opening, operation and supervision of covered private healthcare institutions.
Therefore, owning an ideal building does not necessarily mean that the desired healthcare capacity can be created there.
A sophisticated healthcare investment may depend on expensive medical technology.
Before acquiring the property and equipment, determine whether the intended devices and units can lawfully be incorporated into the planned institution.
The current outpatient healthcare rules make clear that permission concerning foreign healthcare personnel does not itself create rights to add devices or units that are subject to Ministry planning.
Real estate, personnel and medical technology therefore need coordinated regulatory due diligence.
The investor may plan to acquire:
imaging equipment,
laboratory systems,
physical therapy equipment,
operating equipment, or
other technology-intensive devices.
Before committing substantial capital, verify:
the healthcare institution category,
regulatory feasibility,
building compatibility,
technical infrastructure, and
applicable planning requirements.
A device that cannot lawfully be incorporated into the licensed healthcare operation can become a major stranded investment.
This can be particularly important for private hospital investments.
The current Private Hospitals Regulation requires private hospitals to operate in qualifying detached buildings satisfying the prescribed framework.
An investor purchasing several floors in a mixed-use building should therefore not assume that those floors can later become a private hospital.
Healthcare investors may consider purchasing multiple independent sections in a commercial or mixed-use building.
This can create additional issues concerning:
common areas,
elevators,
entrances,
structural alterations,
ventilation,
generators,
medical installations,
signage,
patient access, and
condominium approvals.
The property structure should be examined before purchase rather than after architectural design has begun.
Healthcare facilities serve patients who may have reduced mobility.
The investor should assess whether the property can satisfy applicable accessibility requirements without commercially unrealistic reconstruction.
Potential issues include:
entrance levels,
ramps,
elevators,
corridor widths,
sanitary facilities, and
patient circulation.
For healthcare projects requiring emergency functions, ambulance and emergency access can be commercially and legally significant.
A building located on a narrow street or inside a complicated mixed-use development may appear valuable but create serious operational constraints.
The planned healthcare model should therefore be tested against the site’s access characteristics.
Healthcare facilities can generate significant patient, employee and visitor traffic.
Parking requirements and practical availability should be examined together with:
zoning,
approved plans,
property rights, and
operational needs.
A seller’s statement that “there is parking nearby” is not a substitute for legal and technical verification.
Medical properties may contain:
patients with limited mobility,
oxygen and medical gases,
specialized equipment,
laboratories,
electrical systems, and
high occupancy.
Fire-safety review should therefore be conducted before acquisition.
A building requiring fundamental reconstruction to satisfy healthcare fire-safety requirements may no longer be commercially attractive.
A hospital or other healthcare facility may require specialized infrastructure that an ordinary commercial building does not possess.
Before purchase, the technical team should evaluate whether necessary installations can be incorporated lawfully and safely.
This should be coordinated with the approved architectural and structural configuration.
Some medical equipment can create substantial structural or technical demands.
The investor should determine whether floors, electrical systems and other infrastructure can support the planned healthcare equipment.
Do not wait until after acquisition to discover that expensive structural reinforcement is necessary.
This is another common misconception.
The seller may say:
“This building has been a medical facility for twenty years.”
That history is relevant, but it does not automatically establish that the foreign investor can operate its planned healthcare institution there.
The investor should verify:
what institution was licensed,
who held the licence,
what services were authorized,
what capacity existed,
whether the licence remains valid,
and
whether the transaction changes the licensing position.
The foreign investor may purchase:
only the building,
the healthcare operating company,
shares in the healthcare company,
medical equipment,
or
a combination of these assets.
Each structure creates different legal issues.
Buying a building from a hospital operator is not automatically equivalent to acquiring the hospital’s healthcare licence and operational rights.
Before closing, determine exactly:
who owns the property,
who holds the healthcare licence,
who holds the activity permit,
who employs the healthcare personnel,
and
who owns regulated medical equipment.
These may be different persons or companies.
Licences and regulatory capacities cannot simply be assumed to follow the building because the building has been sold.
The investor should verify the applicable rules concerning:
ownership changes,
transfers,
relocation,
mergers,
licence amendments, and
continuation of healthcare operations.
This should occur before the transaction structure is finalized.
A foreign investor may acquire shares in an existing healthcare company rather than merely buying its real estate.
In a share purchase, the operating legal entity generally continues to exist.
This can preserve certain operational continuity but also means the investor acquires exposure to the company’s historical liabilities, regulatory proceedings and compliance problems.
Enhanced corporate due diligence is therefore required.
Request and review:
inspection reports,
warnings,
deficiency notices,
administrative sanctions,
licence-related correspondence,
suspensions,
capacity disputes, and
corrective-action records.
A healthcare facility with an apparently valid licence may still have significant unresolved compliance problems.
An investor should investigate whether the institution has previously faced:
temporary suspension,
restriction of services,
licence-related sanctions,
closure of particular units, or
other regulatory intervention.
The reason can materially affect valuation.
For private hospitals, the current regulatory framework distinguishes the hospital licence from the activity permit, which records matters such as authorized specialties, laboratories, medical service units, certain planned medical devices and bed capacity.
Therefore, reviewing only the document showing that a hospital is “licensed” is insufficient.
The investor should verify what the hospital is actually authorized to do.
The same principle applies to outpatient healthcare investments.
The investor should establish:
authorized specialties,
permitted services,
medical units,
personnel structure, and
any relevant planning restrictions.
A healthcare facility’s commercial value may depend heavily on the exact services it is permitted to provide.
Suppose the seller markets a facility as having capacity for:
twenty examination rooms,
a specialized treatment unit, and
advanced imaging.
If only part of that capacity is lawfully authorized, valuation based on the physical facility can be misleading.
The investor should value the transaction using lawful operational capacity.
A foreign-owned healthcare investment may intend to employ foreign physicians or other healthcare professionals.
The current outpatient healthcare regulation allows covered healthcare institutions, subject to Ministry permission, to employ foreign physicians and other foreign healthcare professionals within the applicable regulatory framework.
However, this is separate from the property acquisition itself.
The investor should not assume foreign ownership automatically creates permission to employ any desired foreign medical team.
A healthcare property may be ideal, but the business plan may fail if the necessary professional staffing model cannot be lawfully implemented.
Due diligence should therefore integrate:
real estate,
healthcare licensing,
professional eligibility,
staffing, and
corporate structure.
Preserve statements such as:
“Suitable for hospital use.”
“Ready for medical center licensing.”
“Ministry approval is guaranteed.”
“The existing healthcare licence transfers with the building.”
“All medical units are approved.”
“No additional permission is required.”
These statements should never replace independent regulatory review.
A seller or broker cannot guarantee a future regulatory decision merely because the property was previously used for healthcare.
The investor should distinguish:
existing legal rights,
pending applications, and
future expectations.
This distinction should be reflected in the purchase agreement.
Ask whether the seller or current operator has previously applied for:
additional healthcare capacity,
new specialties,
relocation,
medical units,
medical devices,
building approval, or
licence amendments.
A previous rejection may reveal a problem directly affecting the buyer’s investment plan.
For an existing healthcare facility, obtain:
licence,
activity permit,
approved projects,
Ministry correspondence,
provincial health authority correspondence,
inspection records,
staffing records,
device approvals,
previous applications, and
sanction history.
The healthcare regulatory file can be as important as the title deed.
Suppose the foreign investor expressly explains that the building is being purchased for a medical center.
The seller represents that the property satisfies the necessary healthcare requirements.
After closing, the investor discovers that fundamental physical or legal conditions prevent the intended licensing.
Depending on the contract and circumstances, seller liability may need to be evaluated.
For a major investment, the contract can state that the property is being acquired for a specific healthcare project.
For example:
“The purchaser intends to establish and operate a medical center at the property, subject to applicable regulatory approvals.”
This helps clarify the commercial purpose and allocation of regulatory risk.
Depending on the transaction, warranties may address:
zoning suitability,
building legality,
approved use,
existing healthcare licences,
activity permits,
absence of unauthorized alterations,
Ministry correspondence,
previous licence refusals,
regulatory investigations, and
accuracy of disclosed healthcare capacity.
Generic property warranties may be inadequate.
Where the investment depends entirely on healthcare licensing, the investor should consider whether closing should depend on specified regulatory milestones.
For example:
healthcare-use feasibility confirmation,
project approval,
necessary preliminary authorization,
licence-transfer feasibility, or
another defined regulatory condition.
The exact structure depends on the type of healthcare investment.
A foreign investor should be particularly cautious where the property has limited alternative commercial use.
If healthcare licensing fails, a specialized medical building may be worth substantially less to the investor than the purchase price.
Conditions precedent, escrow, retention or staged payments may help allocate this risk contractually.
Converting ordinary commercial property into healthcare premises can require extensive work involving:
structure,
electrical systems,
ventilation,
fire safety,
accessibility,
patient circulation,
medical gases,
sanitary infrastructure, and
specialized treatment areas.
Obtain realistic technical estimates before signing the final transaction documents.
The first step is to identify whether the problem is:
zoning-related,
construction-related,
physical-standard related,
healthcare-planning related,
licence-related,
capacity-related, or
operator-related.
Do not immediately assume that every licensing obstacle can be fixed through renovation.
A building may require:
technical modifications,
project revision,
accessibility upgrades,
fire-safety improvements, or
other compliance work.
If the underlying healthcare use and licensing model are legally viable, correction may preserve the investment.
The property may be fundamentally unsuitable for the proposed institution.
For example, a hospital investment can face serious difficulty if the building cannot satisfy the detached-building and healthcare-specific physical requirements under the applicable private hospital framework.
In such a case, continuing to spend money on superficial renovations may increase the investor’s losses.
Potentially.
If the Ministry or another competent authority issues an adverse administrative decision, the investor should obtain the written decision and complete administrative file.
Potential issues may include:
incorrect factual findings,
misapplication of the applicable healthcare category,
failure to consider valid documentation,
incorrect interpretation of technical requirements, or
other procedural or substantive illegality.
The appropriate administrative remedy depends on the decision.
An investor may have spent millions on the property.
That fact is commercially significant but does not itself create entitlement to a healthcare licence.
An administrative challenge must focus on whether the competent authority lawfully applied the regulatory framework.
Do not spend months negotiating informally while assuming that the time for challenging a written refusal has stopped.
Record:
application date,
inspection date,
deficiency notice,
written refusal,
notification date, and
any administrative reconsideration request.
Each decision should be reviewed promptly.
The investor may simultaneously need to:
challenge an allegedly unlawful licensing decision, and
preserve contractual rights against the seller.
One strategy does not automatically protect the deadlines applicable to the other.
This can be highly significant.
Suppose the seller previously applied to establish the same healthcare operation and received a rejection because the building did not satisfy a fundamental requirement.
The seller then markets the property to a foreign investor as “medical-center ready.”
The earlier administrative file can become central evidence in the transaction dispute.
Preserve advertisements describing the property as:
“hospital ready,”
“clinic licensed,”
“ideal for medical tourism,”
“fully approved healthcare property,” or
“medical center suitable.”
These statements should be compared with official regulatory documentation.
A foreign investor may acquire property specifically to serve international patients.
The commercial model may involve:
international marketing,
patient coordination,
accommodation partnerships, and
cross-border healthcare services.
But attracting foreign patients does not eliminate the need to comply with the healthcare licensing rules applicable to the underlying healthcare institution.
Where the business model depends on international patients, licensing delays can affect:
marketing,
foreign partnerships,
staff recruitment,
medical equipment purchases,
patient contracts, and
financing.
The regulatory timetable should therefore be incorporated into the investment model from the beginning.
A building unsuitable for a private hospital may potentially be suitable for another lawful use, depending on its characteristics and the applicable regulatory framework.
The investor should not assume this automatically.
A new feasibility study should identify:
alternative healthcare models,
required approvals,
conversion costs, and
expected value.
If the intended healthcare project becomes impossible, determine the property’s value for lawful alternative uses.
This can help the investor decide whether to:
retain,
lease,
sell,
convert, or
pursue claims against the seller.
A healthcare property should not be valued solely on physical square meters.
The valuation should consider:
lawful healthcare use,
authorized capacity,
conversion requirements,
licensing risk,
existing regulatory approvals,
alternative uses, and
capital expenditure required for compliance.
Regulatory rights can significantly affect commercial value.
A foreign investor purchasing property for healthcare use in Turkey should treat the transaction as a combined real estate, healthcare-regulatory and investment due diligence exercise.
First, define the exact healthcare institution before selecting the property. The regulatory framework distinguishes private hospitals from outpatient healthcare institutions such as medical centers, polyclinics, physical therapy and rehabilitation institutions and private medical practices. The current principal frameworks were substantially renewed in January and April 2025.
Second, verify the building against the requirements applicable to that institution. Private hospitals are subject to healthcare-specific project and physical standards and generally operate in qualifying detached buildings. Outpatient healthcare institutions are also subject to minimum building, service and personnel standards.
Third, distinguish real estate suitability from regulatory authorization. A property may physically accommodate a healthcare operation while the proposed specialties, units, devices, personnel or capacity remain subject to separate Ministry rules.
Fourth, investigate any existing healthcare operation in detail. Do not review only the title and headline licence. Examine the activity permit, authorized services, capacity, previous inspections, Ministry correspondence, sanctions and rejected applications.
Fifth, structure the acquisition around unresolved regulatory risk. Where licensing feasibility is essential, conditions precedent, specific warranties, indemnities, escrow, retention or staged payments may be preferable to paying the full purchase price and litigating afterward.
Finally, if the acquisition has already occurred and licensing difficulties emerge, stop unnecessary capital expenditure until the obstacle is classified. Determine whether it can be corrected, whether an adverse administrative decision can be challenged and whether the seller or intermediary made inaccurate representations about the property’s healthcare suitability.
Lawyer Fırat Fesih Kaya can examine the property’s zoning and building status, healthcare licensing framework, existing regulatory approvals, Ministry correspondence and acquisition documents to determine whether the proposed healthcare investment can lawfully operate and which administrative or contractual remedies can protect the foreign investor.
Purchasing the property does not itself create the right to establish a private hospital. The project must satisfy the applicable healthcare planning, licensing, physical, personnel and operational requirements. Under the current framework, private hospitals are subject to healthcare-specific project approval and physical standards.
Not automatically. The building must be evaluated against the requirements applicable to the intended healthcare institution, as well as relevant planning and construction rules.
The regulation covers medical centers, polyclinics, physical therapy and rehabilitation institutions and private medical practices providing outpatient diagnosis and treatment.
Not automatically. The property ownership, licensed healthcare operator, hospital licence, activity permit and transaction structure must be examined separately.
Under the current private hospital framework, the licence establishes the hospital’s suitability for healthcare service provision, while the activity permit identifies authorized operational matters such as specialties, laboratories, medical service units, certain planned medical devices and bed capacity.
The applicable regulatory requirements must be satisfied. The current outpatient healthcare framework permits covered institutions, subject to Ministry authorization, to employ foreign physicians and other foreign healthcare professionals under the relevant rules.
Potentially. The purchase agreement, intended use, seller warranties, disclosures, previous regulatory decisions and representations concerning healthcare suitability should be examined.
The previous application and rejection can become important evidence, particularly if the seller subsequently represented that the property was suitable for the same healthcare project.
Yes. Where the investment depends on a specific healthcare operation, regulatory feasibility should be investigated before closing and can potentially be incorporated into the transaction through conditions precedent and other contractual protections.
Identify the exact healthcare institution; verify zoning, building permits, approved projects and lawful usable area; assess healthcare-specific physical requirements; investigate Ministry planning and licensing requirements; verify any existing licence and activity permit; examine authorized specialties, units and capacity; review previous inspections and regulatory proceedings; confirm the staffing and medical-device model; and ensure that the purchase agreement protects the investor if the intended healthcare operation cannot lawfully be established.
Healthcare property investment carries regulatory risks that ordinary commercial real estate due diligence may not identify. A foreign investor can purchase an expensive building that appears ideal for medical use and later discover that healthcare planning, physical standards, licensing requirements, authorized capacity or previous regulatory problems prevent the intended operation.
Fırat Fesih Kaya Law Office assists foreign investors and companies with healthcare property acquisitions, regulatory due diligence, zoning and building compliance, private healthcare licensing disputes, acquisition structuring and claims arising from inaccurate seller representations. Lawyer Fırat Fesih Kaya can examine the real estate documentation together with the healthcare regulatory framework to identify whether the intended hospital, medical center or other healthcare project is legally feasible before substantial capital is committed.
Phone: +90 312 434 22 22
WhatsApp: +90 532 769 22 22
Email: info@firatfesihkaya.av.tr