If you purchase a condominium unit, one or more parking lot(s) will be allotted to the unit. Under the Strata Titles Act 1985, a condominium is called a parcel, and the parking lot is called an accessory parcel.
Section 69 of the Act states that a unit owner is not allowed to deal with the parking lot independent of the condominium unit. Here, dealing with the parking lot include selling or renting out the parking lot.[1]
The question then arises – to whom can a condominium unit owner rent out his/her parking lot? Well, clearly, the unit owner can rent out the parking lot allocated for that unit to the tenant of that condominium unit. There is no issue here.
However, can the condominium unit owner rent that parking lot to a person other than his/her tenant e.g. to a 3rd party condominium unit owner / tenant of another condominium unit in the same development?
The key word here is “independent of”.
If you own Unit A-1-1, you are prohibited from selling / renting out your parking lot separately from the condominium unit. It can only be sold / rented together. The Court of Appeal in the case of Ideal Advantage Sdn Bhd v Perbadanan Pengurusan Palm Spring @ Damansara & Another Appeal [2019] 1 LNS 894 was clear in this regard. So, the answer is no – you cannot sell / rent out the parking lot of your condominium unit to another owner / tenant of another condominium unit.
How about if you own two or more units, can you rent out a parking lot from one condominium unit to another tenant from your other unit? The same principle applies – a tenant of one unit cannot rent the parking lot designated to another unit. The use of the parking lot must be in conjunction with the unit it is attached to. It cannot be dealt with separately.
Sure, this can be done under the radar with the agreement of parties involved and it would appear to cause little to no harm to anyone. However, tensions could rise if there are multiple tenants from different units owned by the same person and they’re fighting over a parking lot. It may just be one parking lot, but it is still a lot of space.
[1] Ideal Advantage Sdn Bhd v Perbadanan Pengurusan Palm Spring @ Damansara & Another Appeal [2019] 1 LNS 894
About the Author
Afiq Iskandar is a Legal Associate of XK Law. He graduated from MARA University of Technology, Malaysia. Afiq has multiple interests in life beyond reading law viz. sports, film, music and poetry. He believes that art, in whatever form they may be, is a necessity of life.
