New Developments
As of May 8, 2025, significant amendments have been made to the Regulation on Shopping Centers (“Regulation“), which entered into force after being published in the official gazette dated February 26, 2016 and numbered 29636. With these amendments, the definition of shopping centers, the scope of common areas, operating and license obligations, and the reporting scheme have been made more detailed and transparent.
What Does the Amendment Regulate?
- Common Areas
The scope of common use areas in shopping centers has been clarified. Accordingly, common use areas have been defined and the provision that accommodation, storage and production areas and workplaces are excluded from common use areas has been added. With the amendment, common use areas are defined as areas that can be used directly and collectively, such as social and cultural activity areas, emergency medical intervention units, prayer rooms, baby care rooms, children’s playgrounds, restrooms and recreation areas. In this context, areas such as exterior facades and roofs that are not open to direct use will not be considered as common use areas within the scope of the Regulation.
- Building Permits
Shopping centers within the scope of the Regulation were already required to have a common use area. By making a more fundamental regulation regarding the consequences of non-compliance with this obligation, the amendments also stipulate that a building permit cannot be issued for a shopping center if a common use area is not included in the shopping center projects. In addition, it has been made obligatory to clearly state the nature of the building as a “shopping center” in the building permits.
- Common Income — Common Expense Reports
Shopping center management was obliged to prepare before the amendment and send the income and expenditure report for the previous calendar year to retailers by the end of April of each year. With the new amendment, this report, together with a copy of the supporting information and documents approved by the shopping center owner or management, must also be sent to the KEP address announced on the website of the Ministry of Commerce by the end of May of each year.
In addition, the management of shopping centers was required to have a report audited by an independent audit firm authorized by the Public Oversight, Accounting and Auditing Standards Authority on the appropriateness of advance payments, common income and expense calculation and reporting transactions, and other transactions related to common expense sharing, and to send this report to the retail businesses in the shopping center by the end of July of each year. With the amendment, the scope of this obligation has been narrowed and it is envisaged that this report will only be sent to retail establishments where the common expense contribution share is collected. Although the scope of this submission has been narrowed, the obligation to send the information and documents evidencing this submission, together with a copy approved by the shopping center owner or management, to the KEP address announced on the website of the Ministry of Commerce until the end of August of each year has also been added to the Regulation with the aforementioned amendments.
- Suspension of Obligations
Ministry of Commerce may directly suspend the obligations listed in the Regulation for shopping centers with a sales area of less than 10,000 square meters or with fewer than 30 workplaces. For shopping centers with a sales area of between 10,000 and 20,000 square meters, the Ministry of Commerce may suspend the obligations if the number of inactive workplaces exceeds half or if the shopping centers are not operated by national or international retail chains.
- Other Significant Amendments
Finally, buildings that do not meet the “shopping center qualifications” listed in the Regulation are prohibited from using the term “shopping center.” This amendment aims to prevent misleading consumers.
With these amendments, the Regulation has created a stronger legal basis for transparency, accountability and access to social spaces in shopping center operations.
Conclusion
Significant amendments were made to the Regulation as of May 8, 2025. In particular, we evaluate that regulations regarding the scope of common use areas, the obligation to submit common income and expense reports to the Ministry of Trade and the suspension of the obligations under the Regulation based on certain criteria will have significant consequences.
