Parking Stalls and Storage Lockers: What You Own in a BC Condo

The parking stall and storage locker that "come with" a condo or townhouse can be held in very different ways, and the difference matters when you buy, when you sell and when you want to install an EV charger. Here is how it works under BC's Strata Property Act, and how to check before you remove subjects.

The short version

Four ways a stall or locker can be held

• Part of your strata lot. The strata plan shows the stall or locker as part of your strata lot, even when it sits on another floor. You own it with your unit, and the strata can't take it away.
• Limited common property. Common property set aside for the exclusive use of one or more strata lots. You don't own it, but you have the right to use it, and that right normally passes to the next owner of your unit. It is created on the original strata plan, by the developer for parking stalls before the first annual general meeting, or later by the owners, either by a unanimous vote that amends the strata plan or by a 3/4 vote with a sketch plan filed at the land title office.
• Common property with short-term exclusive use. Council can give an owner or tenant exclusive use of a common property stall or locker for up to one year at a time, or up to five years for a stall with a charger installed through an owner's formal request. It can be renewed, it can come with conditions, and council can cancel it on reasonable notice, without giving a reason. It ends when you sell.
• A lease or licence. Some developers lease parking or storage areas to a related company, then assign rights to individual stalls to buyers. What you can do then depends on the lease.

Under the Act, parking stalls and storage areas used with a residential strata lot can't be separate strata lots. They must be part of a strata lot or part of the common property. In rare cases, usually commercial parking, a stall is its own strata lot with its own title, and then it has to be transferred separately. Form B has a box for this. Many buildings also have common property stalls that owners use first come, first served, or that the strata rents out.

Can you sell or swap a stall?

• Part of your strata lot: it goes with the unit. Moving it to another unit takes an amendment to the strata plan, with a new plan filed at the land title office.
• Limited common property on the strata plan: changing or removing the designation takes a unanimous vote and an amendment to the strata plan.
• Limited common property created by a 3/4 vote: it can be changed or removed by another 3/4 vote, filed at the land title office. So two owners who want to swap stalls usually need a vote, not just a handshake.
• A short-term permission: it belongs to you, not the unit, and ends when you sell. Your buyer has to ask council, which can give them the same stall, a different one or none.

In a new building

Before the first annual general meeting, the developer can designate parking stalls as limited common property by amending the strata plan, and it must act honestly and in good faith in the strata's best interests. It can also designate up to two extra stalls per unit as limited common property, beyond one per unit and one visitor stall for every ten units, or more if a bylaw requires, and for these extra stalls it does not have to act in the strata's best interests. If you are buying a presale, check how your stall and locker will be assigned, and whether they are included in the price.

How to check before you buy

• Form B. The strata's information certificate lists the stall and locker numbers allocated to the unit and says whether each is part of the strata lot, limited common property or common property, and whether common property stalls are allocated by council, rented for a monthly fee or assigned by the developer. It also warns that common property stalls may be short-term and subject to change. The strata has seven days to provide it, for up to $35 plus 25 cents a page.
• The strata plan. The official plan, and any later sketch plans and resolutions, are filed at the land title office. They show where stalls and lockers sit and how they are designated.
• Bylaws, rules and minutes. Look for parking fees, visitor parking rules, EV charging policies and any disputes over stalls.

The filed strata plan, with any later sketch plans and resolutions, is what counts. In a 2024 decision, the BC Supreme Court upheld a Civil Resolution Tribunal ruling that years of use by a commercial owner's tenants, and a past owner's promise, did not give that owner exclusive rights to stalls the strata plan showed as common property.

EV charging

• Simpler votes. Since May 2023, many strata decisions about EV charging need only a majority vote instead of 3/4, such as spending from the contingency reserve fund on charging infrastructure.
• Owner requests. An owner with the exclusive right to use a stall can formally ask the strata to approve installing a charger there. In stratas that must get an electrical planning report, this process applies from the date the strata first gets one or from its deadline, whichever comes first, and in stratas with fewer than five lots it applies from December 31, 2026. Council must then decide within three months and can't unreasonably refuse, though it can say no if, for example, the building doesn't have enough electrical capacity. The owner pays, unless the strata agrees otherwise.
• A longer permission. If a charger is installed at a common property stall through an owner's formal request, the strata can give that owner exclusive use of the stall for up to five years, instead of one.
• Electrical planning reports. Existing stratas with five or more lots in Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and the Capital Regional District must get one by December 31, 2026, except on islands reached only by boat or air, where the deadline is December 31, 2028. A strata created after 2023 has five years from when its strata plan is filed. The report assesses the building's electrical capacity for EV charging and heat pumps, and buyers see it through the Form B.

Fees and property taxes

A strata can charge user fees for common property, such as an extra stall or locker, only if the fee is reasonable and set out in a bylaw or a ratified rule. For property tax, each strata lot, together with its share of the common property, is assessed as one parcel, so a stall that is common property or limited common property isn't assessed or taxed separately.

Questions buyers often ask me

Do I own the parking stall that comes with my condo?

It depends. If it is part of your strata lot, you own it. If it is limited common property, you have the exclusive right to use it. If it is common property assigned by council, you have a short-term permission. Form B says which.

Does my parking stall transfer when I sell?

A stall that is part of your strata lot, or limited common property assigned to it, normally does. A short-term permission doesn't: your buyer has to ask council.

Can the strata take my stall away?

A short-term permission can be cancelled on reasonable notice. Limited common property can only be changed by a 3/4 vote, or a unanimous vote if it is on the strata plan. A stall that is part of your strata lot is yours.

Can I swap parking stalls with a neighbour?

Not just between yourselves. If the stalls are limited common property, the change needs a vote of the owners and a filing at the land title office, and if they are part of your strata lots, it takes an amendment to the strata plan.

Can I install an EV charger at my stall?

You can ask, if you have the exclusive right to use the stall. Once the formal request process applies to your strata, council must decide within three months and can't unreasonably refuse, and you pay the costs unless the strata agrees otherwise.

Buying in a strata? Read the strata documents to read first, what strata bylaws can say and what you actually own when you buy.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Every strata plan is different, so check the documents for the unit you are buying. For the Province's guide, see parking and storage in a strata.