...to store our pram in the communal hallway?

[elgachbo]

This is the situation: We live in a rented 3rd floor flat. Our 2nd child is due in March.
With our 1st child, we used to store our pram in the communal hallway. That was no problem for about a year or so. Then our freeholder (she lives on the ground floor) got a bit "fuzzy" about it. Basically she didn't like to look at our (brand new, plain-coloured) Mamas&Papas-pram. She came up with all sorts of reasons for us to remove it: fire risk, health & safety. All of them nonsense because she herself has put some furniture in the hallway. Those tables and heaters make the pram look rather little. There is no way it'd be an onbstruction for anyone. In the end the management agency for the property warned us on behalf of the freeholder that the pram would be removed and that there'd be a fine. By that time our 1st child was big enough for a foldable push chair. So we removed the pram and everything went back to normal.
But now I really wonder what's going to happen next. Obviously we'll need the pram for our 2nd child. There is no way we can move a 10-kilo-pram and two children savely to a 3rd-floor-flat up and down on a daily basis.
Is there really no way to be able to store a pram in a communal hallway if you live on the 3rd floor? Wouldn't that be common sense?!
Our hallway is huge. One could easily park one of those tiny electric cars in there, let alone a pram.
I fear we'll have our freeholder and the property management at our throats again soon.
Any suggestions?
Many thanks!!
C&E

OOPS! I may just call you Dragon then .

There is no way we can move a 10-kilo-pram and two children savely to a 3rd-floor-flat up and down on a daily basis

You can actually and lots of people do!

When I lived in a flat, there was no secure downstairs space to store a pram/buggy, so I had to lug it and children up the stairs. Its not impossible,

Personally I hate prams in hallways, it lowers the tone and reminds me of Essex. But that's just my opinion

yes it looks unsightly,unaesthetically pleasing
buy a lighter pram if have to humph up and down stairs

at lisaro.

I don't get why prams lower the tone fabby? Do you mean round where you are it's all yummy mummies with organic slings?

YABU. some kinds of hallway furniture is okay but you can go arse over tit if you bang into a pram in zero vis. NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING is more of a hassle than getting out of a smoked filled building, no matter how spacious the hall seems in clear day light. If I was in your building I would be campaigning against it to the freeholder too. The furniture in the communal halls where I live is static, it is always there in the same place and it is solid, so everyone knows their route out backwards. That is okay. Prams that are sometimes there are not.

Get one with one of those moses basket type prams that comes off the chassy and the chassy folds. I had one it was £20 second hand and I got it up steps into my mums flat no probs. Of course it would be easier not to but it wasn't a massive issue.

Yanbu to want to store it there, Yabu to think you will be able to without sorting it out with the landlord

Scottishmummy I have a micralite toro - its about 8.5 kilos but with carrycot or carseat attached its considerably more. I find the Maclarens easier to carry up and fown stairs, folded or unfolded, even though they may weigh a little more. The shape is easier to manage

We have been given permission to store DHs mobility scooter in the hallway as it does not fit through the front door.

I don't really want to scare monger, but the problem is in blocks (I'm thinking of towers specifically) you get a lot of people crammed in. Overcrowding brings with it all sorts of anti social behaviour and although you might think it's overly dramatic the way people are referring to fire, paramania I'd one of those behaviours.

The problem is not only are these people living amongst many other people, but blocks of flats often have extremely limited exits. Often only your front door. It's extremely easy to block that front door with - well any old thing hanging about on a stairwell.

Of course this isn't common, but I am pretty sure it is more common than people expect.

it is probably more of a conversion if the freeholder lives in the building though

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/832974-in-asking-our-upstairs-neighbour-to-move-their-pram/AllOnOnePage

This was the thread that introduced me to the irresistible mine of time-wasting that is AIBU/Mumsnet. I know you say you have plenty of room and whatnot, but it might be worth a quick scan just to see where your neighbours could be coming from

That was the thread I first thought of when I saw this title.

OP - do you ever clean/tidy the communal hallway? Bet you don't...

YABVU

I lived in a 2nd floor flat, used a sling to get baby up and down stairs, carrying the collapsible lightweight buggy in one had and shopping etc in the other. There was no lift and we had a hug hall but there was no way I wanted to leave my buggy in a shared area where it could easily be stolen!

It is also a considerate and neighbourly thing to do to not inconvenience others. fine if you consult them all first and they say OK.... but never, never assume!

It is fire hazard, antisocial and I am sure you would complain if there were bikes being stored in communal areas - a buggy is no different.

In our block there were dirty bikes being stored in the halls - the wheels on buggy can be equally mucky... the bikes created additional costs for cleaning floors, carpets and walls and mean we all had to pay for earlier decoration of the communal areas.

The management company have a right to fine you and remove the offending item after warning ( check your lease to be sure of this)

Yes it will be inconvenient and it is difficult sometimes to manage to get everything upstairs but this is your problem to solve and not something the other residents should be inconvenienced by.

When we lived in a flat we fixed a couple of big hooks from IKEA to the wall in the communal hall way so the buggy could be folded and stored flat against the wall. Another tennant did the same with a push bike.

Just want to answer to a few issues that have been raised:
G1nger All 6 parties in the property share the costs
twittertotter it's a rather posh area. I am 100% sure no-one would nick it. (And no-one did back then.)
There actually was one old lady who came up with the "it lowers the tone" argument when we had the pram there before. She moved house long ago and I know all other parties are fine with the pram being stored there.
If the freeholder won't even consider a temporarily storage of the pram (a few hours during the day) by addressing the fire hazard thing again, we'd actually think about asking her to remove the electric heater, too. Just to put things in perspective. The table in the hallway is much wider than the pram. We used to always park the pram right next to it at the wall. Even in the worst possible conditions I couldn't image how someone could possibly trip over it. (You would literally need to roll over or crawl under the table first.)
I reckon the biggest mess about this property is the lack of a basement. We'd be happy to store the undercarriage just somewhere downstairs and bring the carry-cot up and down.
And I do admit that I didn't know that a communal hallway is in fact more of a freeholder's hallway.

elgachbo - it depends what is in your tennancy agreement, but I suspect 'rental' of the flat and 'access' via the commual hallway/staircase.

It does seem very petty of her not to let you store it there as it does sound well out of the way and it doesn't sound like the other tennants mind.

However, as the Freeholder, unless it says otherwise in your agreement, it's unfortunately her perogative to be petty over it :/

elgachbo I'd check your freehold agreement as to what can and can't be kept in the hallway. Ours just said it couldn't be used for "storage" but some modern ones specifically exclude bikes and prams, but other items may or not be allowed.

Once again - what does your lease say? It may or may not be a safety/insurance issue. It may just be the hallway is not part of the property you lease, you merely have access through it.

I also you would be unwise to take a "tit for tat" approach. If you start telling her to take her stuff out, you need to make sure she has no right to put it there for a start. Which, let's face it, is pretty unlikely as she owns the place. If you're looking for co-operation, the last thing you want to do is start telling her what to do in her own property.

Do you actually want to live there? Or do you want her provoke her into deciding she can do without your hassle, and decide not to renew your lease? If so, you might be better off spending your time looking for a new flat.

there are big differences between static hall tables/heaters and a pram. Can you not see that?

the static furnitiure is ALWAYS there so people know and feel their route out with their eyes closes. If you really think noone would find your pram in a smoke filled building then you are seriously undersetimating how disorienting it can be!

i fear youre just being obstinate it's not onto store pram in hallway
no oohing and ahhing
no excuses
it's not your first baby you're not new caught out parent
if I were your neighbour I'd complain about pram too

WHY DON'T YOU OFFER TO INSTALL A CUPBOARD FOR IT??

I hate when people ignore practical suggestions.

Will it fit under the table, if its folded?

Me too wellwisher, or ignore perfectly reasonable questions.

I repeat, do you have outside space? If so, <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=garden+bike+storage&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&fhp=1&biw=1024&bih=475&tbm=isch&tbnid=f6RE_Ir5waxxDM:&imgrefurl=shedforce.com/2010/04/16/building-a-shed-base-for-our-new-addition-bike-storage-unit-%25E2%2580%2593-on-a-budget-pt1/&docid=iM6zO0DnROA-8M&imgurl=shedforce.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/additionbikestore3.jpg%253Fw%253D468%2526h%253D351&w=468&h=351&ei=GMsGT9aHK5PS8QOHybC-AQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=328&sig=104774910563783277568&page=1&tbnh=77&tbnw=105&start=0&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:10,s:0&tx=46&ty=32" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">something like this could work.