Struggling to find a place to park your car can be highly frustrating, particularly after a long day. However, living in strata adds a unique perspective to parking your car.
Parking is easily one of the most contentious issues within strata living, sparking a myriad of queries and complaints. These issues can vary from visitor parking spaces, parking on common property, parking in other residents designated car spaces and leasing out car spaces without suitable approval.
At SSKB we find most issues can be categorized into 2 main areas:
- Drivers who park in another residents designated space without permission.
- Drivers who park in visitor’s car space for longer than acceptable
If you are a Body Corporate resident and you experience either of these two issues do not fret. Below, we have provided some solutions to help face these situations.
Personal car space:
It’s important to remember in many strata parking situations that while by-laws or Body Corporate rules may have been broken, that does not mean the car parked is breaking the law.
For the most part, if a car is parked in your assigned spot, you assume it is parked by accident. It can be the case that most strata car parks do not mark the individual spaces with the lot numbers for privacy purposes and to help protect the safety of the resident. We suggest the first thing you should do is write a note outlining what they are doing incorrectly and place it under the windscreen wiper of the occupied car. Generally, we find that soon after the car owner realises an apology is made and the mistake is never made again.
It is important to note that although a car is parked on your ‘property’ the vehicle is owned by someone else. Although it can be an inconvenience, do not react irrationally and have the wheels of the occupied car clamped. This is illegal. Similarly, do not get the car towed away because if in this process the car is damaged you will be responsible for compensating for repairs.
If all else fails, the next step would be calling for authorised person (police officer) to help resolve the issue. However, prevention is the best method ensuring everyone is aware of the rules!
Visitor Car Space:
In Strata living common property visitor parking is commonly abused by car owners.
In Queensland, for visitors to the property, there is currently no QLD government legislation that regulates visitor parking. Similarly, the committee is responsible for enforcing the by-laws in relation to parking and this cannot be delegated.
Although, the Schedule 4 of the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (BCCMA) schedule states that that an occupier must not park a vehicle in non-designated areas unless they have received approval from the Body Corporate. However, interestingly the BCCMA does not actually define visitor parking therefore there is only the dictionary definition.
Evidently, the time limit and regularity for car owners using spaces is decided by the Body Corporate. Some Body Corporates choose by-laws that set time limits while others trust that low owners and their visitors will be considerate to promote harmonious strata living.
3 ways to prevent strata owners car parks being misused:
However, to prevent car owners abusing this privilege we have set out some strategies to utilize:
- Signage at entry and marking appropriate spaces as ‘visitors only’ is recommended.
- The Body Corporate must advise residents breaching any parking by-law/rule is unacceptable in any circumstances. Depending on the degree of non-compliance, this may involve:
- A letter to the individual resident and/or lot owner entitled to the car space allocated on the strata plan;
- Issuing a formal breach notice; or
- Formal dispute resolution procedure as set out in the Body Corporate rules.
3. Take photographs to document the abuse and act as evidence when presenting to the owners.
As a last resort, if the issue needs to be elevated it is best to take the formal route and issue a BCCM Form 1 notice (link) to notify the Body Corporate of the by-law breach. If the Body Corporate is in agreement that there has been abuse of visitors parking the Body Corporate can give either continuing contravention notice or likely future contravention notice. If they still do not comply the corporate body can take the matter to the magistrate’s court.
Strata parking problems can cause disharmony within strata communities, however dealing with issues quickly can help increase residents’ living experience.
Remember that your Community Manager is always available to provide assistance with any issues you might be facing. Click here to speak to a Strata expert at SSKB today.
