Parking & Locker Allocations: An Explainer & Recommendations
Few topics generate as much confusion—and as much heated correspondence—as parking stalls and storage lockers in strata corporations. Who owns what? Who assigned what to whom? And where, exactly, is the documentation to prove it?
These are not trivial questions. The answers determine what appears on a Form B, what an owner can sell or lease independently, and what a council has authority over. And yet, the allocation regime varies enormously from one strata to the next, often depending on when the building was developed, how the developer chose to structure things, and—frankly—how well records have been maintained over the years by what is likely many different strata councils and management firms.
This article is intended as a practical explainer of the various allocation regimes we encounter, along with some recommendations for strata corporations looking to get their house in order. As always, this is not legal advice—but it is grounded in extensive operational experience across a wide variety of buildings.
The Various Regimes
Not all parking stalls and lockers are created equal. The way they are allocated—and who controls them—depends on the legal structure established when the strata plan was deposited, and in some cases, how that structure has evolved since. Here are the most common regimes we encounter:
Strata Lots
In some developments, particularly older ones, parking stalls and storage lockers are designated as their own strata lots on the strata plan. This is the most straightforward arrangement from a legal perspective: the stall or locker has its own unit entitlement, its own strata lot number, and it is owned outright by whoever holds title to it. It can be bought, sold, and transferred independently, and it appears on title at the Land Title Office just like any residential unit would.
From a management standpoint, this is the cleanest regime. Ownership is clear, it’s registered on title, and there is very little ambiguity. The downside—if you can call it that—is that each strata lot carries its own unit entitlement and therefore contributes to (and votes at) general meetings. In a large underground parkade, this can mean dozens of additional strata lots with voting rights, which can complicate quorum calculations and voting outcomes. Because parking stalls are strata lots, their designation is more or less immutable – amendments to the strata plan typically require a *unanimous vote of all owners* which for practical purposes almost never happens.
Developer-Assigned via Lease or License
A more modern and increasingly common approach is for the developer to retain ownership or control of the parking and storage areas and assign individual stalls or lockers to purchasers through long-term leases or licenses. Under this structure, the parking area itself is typically common property, but individual stalls are allocated to specific units through agreements registered against title or referenced in the disclosure statement.
This regime can work well, but it introduces complexity. The terms of the lease or license matter enormously—questions about transferability, duration, and what happens on resale all flow from the specific language in those agreements. Management must understand the terms and ensure that any transfers on resale are properly documented. We have seen cases where the original lease agreements were never properly assigned on resale, creating significant headaches for subsequent owners and for management when preparing Form Bs. While the transfer of stalls is meant to be disclosed to the strata corporation, over-eager lawyers sometimes skip this step and thus the strata is unaware a stall has changed hands. There is no ability to file these assignments at the Land Title Office (something we hope will change and have lobbied government to consider) and thus their opacity can unfortunately sometimes lead to errors.
Common Property Assigned by Council or Sections
In many strata corporations, parking stalls and lockers are simply common property, and the council (or in some cases, a section) has authority to allocate them to owners. This is often done through a bylaw or rule, or sometimes through a resolution recorded in the minutes.
This approach offers flexibility—council can reassign stalls if circumstances change, and it avoids the complexity of individual leases or separate strata lots. However, it also means that owners do not “own” their stall in any traditional sense. They have a right to use it as allocated, but that allocation is ultimately governed by the strata corporation’s bylaws and the decisions of the council or section.
Where sections exist (for example, a residential section and a commercial section), the allocation authority may rest with the section council rather than the strata council, adding another layer of governance that must be clearly understood and documented.
Limited Common Property (LCP)
A variation on the common property model is the designation of parking stalls or lockers as limited common property (LCP). Under this arrangement, the stall or locker remains common property but is designated for the exclusive use of a specific strata lot. The designation is registered on the strata plan, and it cannot be changed without the consent of the affected owner and a resolution of the strata corporation.
LCP designations provide a degree of certainty that a simple council allocation does not. The designation is tied to the strata lot, not to the individual owner, so it survives resale. It also appears on the strata plan itself, which makes it verifiable at the Land Title Office. The trade-off is that LCP designations are more rigid—they cannot be easily reassigned—and the process to create or amend them requires formal steps under the Strata Property Act.
The Records Problem
Here is where theory meets reality.
In an ideal world, every strata corporation would have a clear, well-documented record of exactly how its parking stalls and lockers are allocated, under which regime, and with supporting documentation for each unit. In practice—particularly in older buildings—this is often far from the case.
Management companies change. Councils turn over. Filing systems vary from meticulous binders to cardboard boxes in a storage locker (somewhat ironically). Original developer documents may have been lost, incompletely transferred, or simply never provided to the strata corporation in the first place. We have taken on buildings where the parking allocation was, effectively, based on collective memory and a hand-drawn map of uncertain vintage.
This matters enormously because of the Form B.
The Form B (Information Certificate) requires the strata corporation to disclose, among other things, the parking and locker allocation for a given strata lot. Buyers, sellers, and their lawyers rely on this information. If the Form B states that Strata Lot 42 has Parking Stall P3 and Locker L7, and that turns out to be wrong, the consequences for the strata corporation can be significant. Claims, disputes, and legal costs flow from inaccurate Form Bs, and the strata corporation—not the individual council members or the management company—bears the liability.
When records are incomplete or conflicting, management is placed in an unenviable position: state the allocation with confidence and risk being wrong or hedge the language and invite questions from every conveyancer who reads it. Neither option is ideal.
A Practical Recommendation: The Formal Audit and Bylaw Adoption
One approach we have seen work well—and one we recommend for strata corporations facing uncertainty about their parking and locker records—is to conduct a thorough audit and then formalize the results through a bylaw.
The process is straightforward in concept, though it does require effort:
Step 1: Conduct a Physical Audit. Walk the parkade and storage areas. Document every stall and locker, its number or identifier, and its current occupant. Cross-reference this against whatever existing records are available—strata plans, developer documents, historical Form Bs, council minutes, and any lease or license agreements on file. This step and the next may be unnecessary or overkill if there is a high degree of confidence in the existing lists.
Step 2: Prepare a Draft Allocation List. Based on the audit, prepare a comprehensive list showing each stall and locker and its proposed allocation to a specific strata lot. Where there are discrepancies between the physical reality and the existing records, flag them for resolution.
Step 3: Disseminate to All Owners. Send the draft list to every owner in the strata corporation with a clear deadline for review and comment. Ask owners to confirm their allocation or identify any errors. This step is critical—it gives every owner the opportunity to raise concerns before the list is formalized, and it creates a documented record that owners were consulted.
Step 4: Resolve Disputes. Where owners disagree with the proposed allocation, work to resolve those disputes before proceeding. This may involve reviewing historical documents, consulting with the developer (if still available), or in some cases, seeking legal advice.
Step 5: Adopt the List by Bylaw. Once the list is finalized, adopt it as a schedule to a bylaw at a general meeting. This gives the allocation formal legal standing within the strata corporation’s governance framework and provides a clear, citable reference point for future Form Bs.
This is not a perfect solution—a bylaw cannot override a registered interest on title, and it cannot resolve a genuine ownership dispute where two parties have competing claims. But for the far more common scenario where records are simply incomplete or unclear, it provides a defensible foundation. It allows management to state the allocation on a Form B with significantly more confidence, backed by a documented process of audit, owner consultation, and formal adoption.
Conclusion
Parking and locker allocations are one of those areas of strata management that seem simple until they aren’t. The variety of allocation regimes across British Columbia’s strata inventory means that no single approach applies universally, and the quality of historical records varies dramatically from building to building.
For strata corporations where records are solid and the allocation regime is clear, the advice is simply to maintain those records carefully and ensure they are properly transferred whenever management changes hands.
For those where uncertainty exists taking the time to audit, consult, and formalize your allocations through a bylaw is time and effort well spent. It protects the strata corporation, it gives owners certainty, and it allows your management team to prepare Form Bs with the confidence that the information is accurate and defensible.
As always, we recommend consulting with a qualified strata lawyer before undertaking a bylaw amendment of this nature. The legal nuances vary depending on your specific allocation regime, and professional advice ensures the process is done correctly.
If your strata corporation is unsure about its parking and locker records, now is the time to address it. These issues rarely resolve themselves, and the longer they go unaddressed, the more complicated and costly they tend to become.
