Most of the time, an apartment or condominium includes one (or more) parking bay when you purchase a unit. People who are familiar with high-rise residential parking will know that each unit is assigned a specific lot (or lots) within the private common property (car park area), with a set amount of parking bays allocated for visitors. However, did you know that there are actually different legal positions of parking bays in Peninsular Malaysia?

Update: We’ve compiled the questions by our readers and answered them in the Q&A: Your Questions, Answered section!

Accessory Parcel

According to the Strata Titles Act 1985, “parcel” refers to a subdivided building, or individual unit, which is held under a separate strata title, while “accessory parcel” is any parcel on a strata plan labeled for use or intended use in conjunction with a parcel. If an accessory parcel (in this case, a parking bay) is bought together with a parcel (unit), the buyer has ownership of both as indicated in the unit’s strata title. When the unit is sold, the accessory parcel is sold together.

Common Property

The Strata Titles Act defines “common property” as a lot that is not included in any parcel (including accessory parcel) or provisional block as stated in a strata plan. Common property is directly under the control of the joint management body (JMB) or management committee (MC). The JMB or MC has the right to determine and maintain the usage of the common property, allocate it as car park bays or rent it out as they see fit. However, car park bays allocated from common property cannot be sold or transferred.

Retained by Developer

If the developer owns the accessory parcels together with other parcels (units), it has the right to grant a licence to any party who is interested in it by entering a monetary license agreement. Therefore, if a resident is interested to have an extra parking bay, he/she may enter a license agreement to ‘reserve’ the parking bay, but its use is subject to the agreement and the licensee does not own the parking bay.

Sold as Parcel

Unless specified in the building plan for subdivision, the developer can sell car park bays as individual parcels. In this case, the car park bays are sold as individual parcels or units, and held under separate strata titles. This means that a person can purchase the car park bay by entering into a sale and purchase agreement to purchase the car park bay as a unit, and is able to sell the car park bay separately (just like you would buy and sell a condominium unit).

Despite the rules that govern most high-rise residential parking, there will inevitably be people who accidentally or deliberately flaunt the rules and park where they’re not supposed to. Don’t lose your cool; keep calm and follow the steps below:

Politely inform the car owner that they have parked in your private parking bay, or leave a note informing them of their mistake.
If the problem by the same driver persists, inform the JMB/MC or property manager (PM).
If the problem occurs often with different drivers parking in the same space, it may indicate a lack of proper signage to inform visitors of resident and public parking lots.
Request a formal notice to be issued to the repeat offender if he/she continues to park there illegally.
An alternative solution should be considered, or strict action should be taken e.g. clamping, fine or blacklisted. It is considered trespassing on private common property and handled as such by the relevant management or authorities.