Enclosing Car Spaces

Why do you feel you need a cage? Is it a security issue? If so, wouldn’t it be better to upgrade the security for everyone? Do you want to use it for storage?  If so, that’s a change of use that might be better approached another way.

This issue came up several years ago in the early days of Flat Chat when an owner asked for permission to build a cage around her parking spot, was refused but went ahead and did it anyway.

She argued that the car park was part of her lot so she could do as she liked with it. The Owners Corp argued that, apart from the fact that there are limitations on what you can do with your lot, her cage intruded on common property because it was fixed to the floor, ceiling and wall.  

In any case the cage was obstructing reasonable access to other owners’ cars (they couldn’t open their doors properly). Her neighbour claimed he had to get out of his car and push it into place when he parked as he couldn’t open his door.

The owners corp took the owner to the Tribunal (then the CTTT) which, in its typical libertarian, anti-owners corp way, decreed that opening your car door over any part of another car parking space was trespass anyway, and found in favour of the cage lady.

Common sense prevailed at an appeal, and another and a court case or two and finally, a couple of years later, the cage lady came home to find the cage dismantled and lying in a heap in the middle of her parking space, with a bill attached for the cost of dismantling it.

Getting back to this question, there are two key issues with car park cages.  The first is potentially restricting access to your neighbours’ cars and the other is potential change of use.

If a car space is designated as such, it is not supposed to be used as a general storage area.  That in itself may not be such a big deal but is has other potential issues related to unsightliness, fire safety and the effectiveness of sprinklers.

Worst case, it has been known for owners to turn their car park into a storage cage and then start using visitor parking for their cars, thereby effectively stealing common property.

The fact that there were other cages there already is almost irrelevant. Developers do all sorts of things to encourage sales and if a potential buyer wants a cage, they will get one, regardless of what knock-on effect that has on future owners.

And executive committees owners corporations can’t be held to ransom by the bad decisions of their predecessors.  That’s why there is no concept of precedent in strata law.  

So, if this wouldn’t make life harder for the guy who parks next to you, and you aren’t planning to stuff the cage with all the junk you can’t fit in your flat, good luck to you.

There’s a 50-50 chance that NCAT – which is just the CTTT in a different clown suit –  will make a bizarre ruling, the losing side will appeal and you will spend the next six months going back and forth until someone gives up.

Just a couple of comments.

There is an Australian Standard on parking. It goes into a great deal of detail about size and shape and turning space and so on. One of the consistent principles is that the width of space that complies with the standard depends on whether there are adjacent spaces or obstructions. So, a narrow space might comply with the standard if there are adjacent spaces: It is explicitly assumed that one can ‘borrow’ some of the adjacent space for door opening. If there is a wall adjacent the space has to be wider to meet the standard. 

A parking space may or may not be just for parking. At our OC we have parking spaces on common property that units owners have a ‘special privilege’ to use. The grant of that special privilege included conditions. Owners are granted the right to use the space for parking vehicles and also allowed a limited amount of storage within limits (not ‘excessive’ or ‘unsightly’ or dangerous). The OC reserves the right to use the space for other purposes if it would not interfere with the unit owner’s use of the space for parking, eg. putting solar panel on the roof over the space. 

Others at our OC have carports attached to their units. Those are used by the unit owner however they like. The only limits there are is a rule (by law) that applies to all aspects of a unit and requires a unit owner to maintain their unit is good condition and not to maintain anything within the unit that is visible from the common property and detracts seriously from the appearance of the property (or words to that effect).