Buying a parking space in Bulgaria: ownership, ideal shares or merely a right to use?

When buying a Bulgarian apartment, a “parking space” may be marketed as a separate numbered product. The legal question is different: what exactly are you acquiring — an independent garage, ideal shares in a garage or land coupled with an allocation of use, or another right.

The Bulgarian Cadastre Agency states that parking spaces are not independent units in a building for cadastral purposes. Supreme Court case law likewise treats a parking place through the particular property-law structure rather than assuming that every marked bay is a separate immovable asset.

Identify the actual subject of the transaction

Do not begin with the marketing label or the paint on the floor. Compare the approved project, cadastral information, the seller's title and the draft notarial deed. If an independent garage is being sold, it should be legally individualised as such. If ideal shares are being transferred, identify the property from which those shares arise.

Where a particular bay is only an area allocated for individual use within a common garage or yard, its number does not by itself turn that rectangle into a separate property.

Ideal shares are not the same as a particular bay

You may acquire a percentage of a co-owned property while a separate arrangement specifies which physical area each co-owner uses. Review both the title to the shares and the document establishing the allocation of use.

This distinction affects a later sale, disputes between co-owners and possible changes to use. Do not assume that every historical plan or allocation automatically binds every later buyer in all circumstances.

Check the relationship with the apartment

Establish whether the interest in the garage or land is transferred independently, as an accessory to the apartment, or as part of statutory common areas. In condominium ownership, certain ideal shares follow the principal independent unit by law and cannot simply be treated as a freely separable asset.

Make the contract describe the right you are paying for

The preliminary agreement and notarial deed should describe the real legal object: the relevant property, identifier where applicable, percentage of ideal shares and the basis for using the particular bay. If the parking component has a separate price, link payment to that defined right rather than only to a marketing number.

If the advertisement, plan, cadastre and title do not match, do not assume the notarial closing will automatically cure the structure. Resolve the discrepancy before a deposit or substantial payment.