Parking Bays, Storerooms and the Roof: What Comes With an Apartment

The spaces outside the front door are where apartment purchases go wrong, because what is used and what is owned frequently differ.

A buyer is shown a parking bay, a storeroom in the basement and a terrace on the roof, and is told all three come with the unit. Sometimes all three do. Often one is part of the unit, one is a shared area allocated informally, and one is a shared area a previous owner simply annexed. The distinction has no effect on your enjoyment and a considerable effect on your resale, which is where it usually surfaces.

How to test a claim like this

For every space presented as included, ask the same three questions. Does it appear in the ownership record or the documents governing the building as part of this unit? If not, is it a shared area formally allocated to the unit, and by what decision? And if neither, how long has this use continued and has anyone ever objected? Only the first answer survives a sale without argument.

Myth 1: The parking bay belongs to me because the seller used it.

Reality: Use is not title. Bays can be part of a unit, allocated to a unit by the governing documents, allocated by an association decision, or simply used by whoever got there first. The three recorded versions survive a sale; the fourth evaporates when the next owner challenges it.

How to check it yourself: Ask for the documentary basis for the bay allocation and check the bay number appears in it.

Myth 2: A storeroom in the basement is a free extra, so it does not matter.

Reality: It matters on resale, when a buyer asks the same questions you should be asking now, and it matters if the association later reallocates the space. A storeroom also affects what a valuer can reflect, since an accredited valuer will want to know what is actually transferring.

How to check it yourself: Establish whether the storeroom is part of the unit, allocated, or occupied, and get the answer in writing.

Myth 3: The roof is mine because my flat is the top one.

Reality: Roofs are normally part of the shared structure, because they protect every unit in the building. A top floor owner may have exclusive use of a terrace area by virtue of the governing documents, which is a different thing from owning the roof and usually comes with obligations about what may be placed there.

How to check it yourself: Read what the governing documents say about the roof and about any terrace, and note the obligations as well as the rights.

Myth 4: If I have exclusive use of an area, I can build on it.

Reality: Exclusive use is permission to use, not permission to alter. Enclosing a terrace, adding a room or installing heavy plant affects the structure and the appearance of a building you do not solely own, and will normally require both association consent and the ordinary permit route.

How to check it yourself: Before planning anything, confirm both the association consent requirement and the permit position for that specific work.

Myth 5: A bay or store can be sold separately to another owner.

Reality: Whether a space can be transferred separately from the unit depends on how it is held and what the governing documents allow. Informal sales of bays between neighbours are common and frequently unrecorded, which creates exactly the confusion the next purchaser will discover.

How to check it yourself: Ask your adviser whether a separate transfer is possible and recordable before agreeing any such arrangement.

Myth 6: Visitor parking can be used by residents if the visitors do not need it.

Reality: Areas designated for visitors, services or access are designated for a reason, and occupying them creates an obligation on the association to act. The occupier who got there first eventually becomes the owner who has to give it back, usually when a new committee takes over.

How to check it yourself: Match every space in use against the designation in the building documents, and treat the difference as temporary.

What this changes in your decision

• List every space presented as included and require a documentary basis for each.
• Have your adviser check each basis against the record and the governing documents.
• Treat exclusive use and ownership as different findings and price them differently.
• Confirm the consent and permit position before planning any work on an exclusive use area.
• Take a licensed adviser view on whether any space can be transferred separately, and bear in mind that the framework governing multi-owner buildings is being developed and should be checked when you act.

Domira works on the ownership side of a Saudi property for owners based abroad: verifying title and boundaries, assessing the building, handling registration and handover, and managing the asset afterwards. For legal and tax questions, work with a licensed adviser; Domira will tell you plainly what the property itself supports.