VIC: Q&A Strata parking problems in owners corporations

These Q&A are about strata parking problems in owners corporations. We’ve been asked about the number of visitor parking spaces required and how you can stop someone from parking in your car space, and money other problems that regularly occur in strata complexes.

Table of Contents:

• QUESTION: Someone has been parking in my personal car park spaces for over a month. Our Building Manager refuses to assist. Who can help and how can I stop this person from parking in my space?
• QUESTION: In our small 3 lot scheme we each have a parking space outside our garage, believed to be for our use. A new lot owner pointed out this is common property and cannot be used for parking. Is this correct?
• QUESTION: What is the visitor parking spaces law in Victoria? How many visitor car spaces are required for a 20 lot building?

Question: Someone has been parking in my personal car park spaces for over a month. Our Building Manager refuses to assist. Who can help and how can I stop this person from parking in my space?

Someone has been parking in my personal car park spaces for over a month. Our Building Manager will not assist as he states it’s not his job because my car spaces are private property as opposed to visitor parking spaces that are common property. 

Should the building Manager be assisting me? If this isn’t his job, who can help? What can I do to stop this person from parking in my space? 

Answer: The building manager’s responsibility, powers & function involve common areas only.

Unfortunately, the building manager is technically correct stating that it’s “not his job”, as strata managers should not interfere in private matters. His/her responsibility, powers & function involve common areas only. Although it would have been nice if some direction was provided by your manager.

Firstly, you need to determine who is parking in your car space. Is it another owner or a tenant living at the property? These situations can be resolved if both parties are willing to reason and openly discuss the matter together. If the initial discussion/s fail, the manager “could” (although under no obligation) try and reason with the offender, if it’s an owner, on your behalf and see if some resolution can be reached. If the person parking in your space is a tenant, their property manager (real estate agent) needs to be notified that a breach has occurred and the tenant needs to be instructed to remove their vehicle immediately. Alternatively, you may wish to discuss installing a no parking bollard with the committee as a last resort. A lockable bollard within your parking space will stop anyone parking where they shouldn’t.

Then of course there’s the legal option. This can be painfully lengthy, not to mention, costly. Ultimately, you need to decide whether it’s worth the exercise.

These situations are never ideal, but open communication is always a good place to start.

Wishing you a speedy resolution.

Please note that the information contained in this article is not legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. You should obtain legal advice or instructions before you take any action or otherwise rely upon the contents of this article.

Guy Garreffa
StrataPoint
E: [email protected]
P: (03) 8726 9962

This post appears in the July 2022 edition of The VIC Strata Magazine.

Question: In our small 3 lot scheme we each have a parking space outside our garage, believed to be for our use. A new lot owner pointed out this is common property and cannot be used for parking. Is this correct?

There are 3 separate strata villas on our block. We share a common driveway and each have a car space directly outside our private garage.

When we purchased the property, we were under the impression that these ‘private’ spaces in front of our parking garages were for our use. The additional parking space in front of my garage was one of the reasons I bought this unit.

Recently, a new owner purchased a lot in the property. The new lot owner states that no one is allowed to park in the space outside of our garages as it is common property.

Are we able to use these space as we see fit?

Answer: You should confirm your title/ownership boundary by referring to the plan of subdivision.

Boundaries of title and ownership are defined on the plan of subdivision.

It is recommended you confirm your title/ownership boundary by referring to the plan of subdivision.

If the area in front of the garage is marked as common property and not marked as a designated car parking spot then unfortunately one cannot park there.

Stratabase Holdings
E: [email protected]
P: 0412 247 589

This post appears in the May 2022 edition of The VIC Strata Magazine.

Question: What is Victoria’s visitor parking spaces law? How many visitor car spaces are required for a 20 lot building?

We are owner/occupiers at an apartment building where there are twenty dwellings and a shared car park. Each unit has a strata titled outdoor parking space and 5 units have an undercover lockable garage space.

I have two questions:

1. What is the visitor parking spaces law in Victoria? How many visitor car spaces are required for a 20 lot building? And then 21 dwellings?
2. Are the body corporate laws overruled by council applications? For instance, if an individual owner on the premises of 20 dwellings was granted an application to build a 21st apartment dwelling on their parking space in the car park (but the body corporate law clearly stated that anything beyond a vertical two meters is public property and therefore illegal to occupy by a single owner, in the case of building a 21st dwelling), would that body corporate law be overruled by the council approval?

Answer: In my experience, it is up to the local council to determine visitor car park numbers which is evaluated on a case by case basis.

Parking in Owners Corporations is the cause of a number of disputes within Owners Corporation, not the least of which when someone parks their car in a space that belongs to someone else.

Ultimately, once the plan of subdivision is registered, which may note the locations of any car spaces on title for a particular lot, there is no further involvement by government into the number of car spaces available at a property (unless of course if a new or revised Plan of Subdivision is submitted to council).

In response to your first question, this may be best answered by a town planner however in my experience it is up to the local council to determine visitor car park numbers which is evaluated on a case by case basis. Some newer Owners Corporations registered over recent years, in fact, have no car parking at all, visitor or otherwise, so it all comes back to what council approved for a particular site at the development stage.

For your second question, anyone can make an application to council. It doesn’t mean it will be approved. Applications to council and the Owners Corporations Act are two separate matters however I will take your question to mean does the Owners Corporation Act 2006 overrule a council decision.

In short, a correctly made decision of council should be able to be executed (and also objected to), in these circumstances the council should ask for evidence that the Owners Corporation has approved the works requested in the council application (such as evidence that a special resolution has been passed to approve a planning or building permit).

Even though the Owners Corporation has given its permission does not mean the council will approve an application as they will need to measure the application against current planning requirements.

In your example, a Lot owner would only be able to apply to council to undertake building work within their existing Lot only. If their intended works were to extend past the Lot boundary, they would be entering Common Property (or possibly another Lot) and would therefore need permission from the Owners Corporation along with the other issues that arise if such permission was granted (entering into a lease or the disposal/sale of Common Property property for example).

I would suggest that you consider obtaining professional legal advice in relation to your second point as such situations can be quite complex and can transect many different Acts and Regulations that may be unique to your particular Owners Corporation.

The Knight
T: 03 9509 3144
E: [email protected]

This post appears in Strata News #163.

Read next:

• What can an owners corporation make rules about? Vehicles and parking
• VIC: How Can an Owners Corporation Handle Incorrect Parking?

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