Condo car park rules in Malaysia: is your parking bay really yours, and what to check before you book
You are booking a condo in Malaysia and the salesperson says the unit comes with two car parks. Ask which kind, because there are three. An accessory parcel is a bay drawn on the building's title plan and attached to your unit; under the Strata Titles Act 1985, the law on condo ownership, it cannot be sold or given away separately from the unit, and nobody can reassign it. A common-property bay belongs to all the owners together and the management hands it out, so it can be reshuffled or charged for. A designated bay named only in your sale and purchase agreement is a promise from the developer, not a title right, and is only as good as what the title plan later shows. The honest downside of an accessory parcel is that it counts towards your share of the building, so you pay maintenance fees on it. Check the title plan and the contract schedule, not the brochure, before you pay the booking fee.
Accessory parcel, common property or designated bay: what is the difference?
Three labels, three completely different legal positions, and the brochure uses the same word for all of them. The Strata Titles Act 1985 defines an accessory parcel in section 4 as a parcel shown in a strata plan as an accessory parcel, used or intended to be used in conjunction with a main parcel; common property is everything in the scheme that is not a parcel or accessory parcel.
| Accessory parcel | Common-property bay | Designated bay in the SPA only | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where it is written | On the strata plan and on your strata title, with its own parcel number | Nowhere on your title; it is part of the common property | In a schedule or clause of the sale and purchase agreement |
| Who owns it | You, as part of your unit | All proprietors together, controlled by the JMB or MC (the joint management body or the management corporation running the building) | Nobody in particular until titles are issued; then it is either an accessory parcel or common property |
| Can it be taken away? | No; it is appurtenant to your unit | Yes; the management can re-allocate, rotate or charge for it by resolution | Depends on what the developer does when the strata plan is drawn |
| Can it be sold separately? | No, under section 34(2) of the Strata Titles Act 1985 | No; nobody owns it individually | No |
| Do you pay maintenance on it? | Yes; the First Schedule of the Strata Management Act 2013 gives an accessory parcel a weightage of 0.25 outside the building or 0.5 within it when share units are computed | Indirectly, through the common-property budget | As above, once it is classified |
| On resale | Goes with the unit automatically; valuers and buyers can see it on the title | Whatever allocation the management gives the next owner | Whatever the SPA and, later, the title say; a buyer's lawyer will ask |
The First Schedule of the Strata Management Act 2013 states the rule in one line: an accessory parcel is an open or enclosed part of the development area that has been made appurtenant to a parcel and cannot be disposed of independently of the parcel. Car bays, garden areas, roof terraces and store rooms are its own examples.
Why are some condos' car parks not on the title, and what does it mean when you sell or rent?
Because the developer chose, or was forced, to keep them as common property, or because the developer tried to keep them for itself and the courts said no. Three situations you will meet in the Klang Valley:
- Older schemes where bays were never made accessory parcels. The SPA promised a bay, the strata plan drew the whole car park as common property, and the management allocates bays by house rules. Your bay exists in practice, not in law. When you sell, the buyer's lawyer will find no accessory parcel on the title, and the buyer takes whatever the management allocates to the unit.
- Developer retained the bays to sell or let separately. In Ideal Advantage Sdn Bhd v Perbadanan Pengurusan Palm Spring @ Damansara [2020] 4 MLJ 93 the Court of Appeal upheld the cancellation of 394 car park accessory parcels that the developer had attached to its own retained units to run as a business; the bays reverted to common property (summaries by law firms HHQ and Yew Huoi, How & Associates). Where the bays had never been intended to serve a unit, attaching them as accessory parcels was a breach of the Act.
- Surplus bays the developer kept under the SPA. In Sri Keladi Sdn Bhd v Bukit OUG Condominium JMB the Court of Appeal read the SPA and held that bays beyond those allocated to purchasers were not common property under that contract and the developer could deal with them (summary by Zul Rafique & Partners). The two decisions are not in conflict: what the SPA and the strata plan say decides the outcome.
Renting the bay out. If your bay is an accessory parcel, it must be used in conjunction with your unit. The Court of Appeal in Target Term Sdn Bhd v Waldorf and Windsor Management Corporation treated letting a bay as a licence rather than a dealing in the parcel, so short-term letting to another resident is not itself a breach of section 34(2), but the Ideal Advantage line makes clear that bays cannot be run as a stand-alone parking business divorced from the units. Most house rules go further and ban letting to outsiders. If your bay is common property, you have nothing to let; the management does.
Where a scheme sits on this spectrum is a title question, and it links to the wider strata-title points in strata title vs individual title and to who has the power to change the allocation, covered in JMB vs MC.
How many bays does a unit get, and how do you check in the SPA and strata plan?
As many as the approved building plan and the developer's allocation give it, which in Klang Valley condos is usually one bay for a small unit and two for a larger one, and there is no statutory minimum per unit. The local council's planning approval fixes the total number of bays for the project; the developer decides how they are shared out. Where to look, in order of reliability:
- The strata plan (for a completed building) or the proposed strata plan (for a new launch). Each accessory parcel has a number, an area and the main parcel it is attached to. If the bay is not on it, it is not an accessory parcel.
- The SPA and its schedules. Under the statutory Schedule H contract the parcel description should identify the accessory parcels sold with the unit. A separate clause saying the developer will "designate" or "allocate" a bay is weaker: it is a contractual promise about common property, not a title right. Our SPA checklist shows where this sits in the document.
- The strata title itself (subsale). The accessory parcels are printed on it. Ask the seller's agent for a copy before you pay the earnest deposit.
- The management's allocation list (subsale, common-property bays). Confirm in writing which bays the unit currently uses and whether the allocation transfers to a new owner.
Two practical traps. Tandem bays (one behind the other) are often sold as "two car parks" and are one accessory parcel on the plan. And a bay described as "reserved" or "designated" in the marketing material can be quietly common property in the SPA; the word to look for is accessory parcel.
Can you install an EV charger, and what about visitor parking?
Yes, with the management's written approval, and it is much simpler if your bay is an accessory parcel on your own unit's electricity supply. Guides published in 2026 by EV installers (EVGuru, SuperHomes) describe the same split: a charger on an accessory-parcel bay fed from your unit's distribution board needs the management's written consent and a licensed electrician working to the Energy Commission's guideline GP/ST/No.54/2025; a charger on a common-property bay needs a resolution of the management body, a TNB sub-meter and cabling through common areas, and takes months. You pay for the installation either way, including any cable run through common corridors or risers, and most managements collect a renovation deposit for the work. A blanket refusal with no technical reason can be taken to the Strata Management Tribunal, which has power to give consent for alterations to common property under the Fourth Schedule of the Strata Management Act 2013.
Visitor parking is common property under the management's control. Nobody, including the developer, can sell it, and Ideal Advantage is the case where a developer tried. The practical questions before you buy: how many visitor bays per unit the building has, whether they are free or charged, and whether residents with a second car are quietly occupying them. A 500-unit building with 30 visitor bays and no enforcement is a building where your guests park on the road.
What to ask before booking a new launch:
- How many bays come with this unit, and are they accessory parcels on the proposed strata plan or common-property allocations?
- Are the bays tandem or side by side, and which parcel numbers?
- Are any bays being retained by the developer, and for what?
- What is the ratio of visitor bays to units, and is visitor parking charged?
- Is EV charging provisioned to the bays, and on whose meter?
- Who should not pay extra for a second bay: a single buyer with one car who plans to rent the unit out. Tenants in most Klang Valley condos pay little or nothing more for a second bay, and you pay maintenance on it forever.
Frequently asked questions
What is an accessory parcel in simple terms?
A piece of the development, most often a car bay, that is drawn on the strata plan as belonging to your unit and printed on your strata title. It goes wherever the unit goes and cannot be sold on its own (section 34(2) of the Strata Titles Act 1985).
Can I sell my car park separately from my condo unit?
No. Section 34(2) of the Strata Titles Act 1985 prohibits dealing with or disposing of an accessory parcel independently of the parcel it is attached to. Any sale of the bay alone is void. If the bay is common property you do not own it at all.
Can I rent my accessory-parcel bay to someone outside the building?
Legally risky and usually banned by the house rules. The Court of Appeal has treated short-term letting as a licence rather than a dealing, but the same courts have cancelled accessory parcels that were being run as a parking business. Letting to another resident with the management's knowledge is the safe end of the spectrum.
How do I check whether my car park is on the strata title?
Look at the strata title or the strata plan: accessory parcels are listed with their own numbers. For a new launch, ask for the proposed strata plan and the SPA schedule describing the parcel. If the bay appears only in a clause about the developer designating a bay, it is not an accessory parcel.
Do I pay maintenance fees on my car park?
Yes, if it is an accessory parcel. Under the First Schedule of the Strata Management Act 2013 an accessory parcel is included in your unit's share units at a weightage of 0.25 outside the building or 0.5 within it, so two bays cost more each month than one.
Can the management take away my designated bay?
If it is common property, yes, by resolution, subject to the house rules. If it is an accessory parcel on your title, no. That difference is the whole reason to check the title before you buy.
General information based on the Strata Titles Act 1985, the Strata Management Act 2013 and reported Court of Appeal decisions as summarised by the law firms named, not legal advice. Whether a particular bay is an accessory parcel or common property is a question of that scheme's strata plan and SPA; have your lawyer read both.