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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

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

145 replies

elgachbo · 03/01/2012 15:51

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

OP posts:

scottishmummy · 07/01/2012 19:39

oh you're smooth,and flattering.you ole sook

PlinkertyPlonk · 07/01/2012 19:45

2 issues here. Regulations and common agreement amongst tenants.

What Lynlynn says up-thread is right. Fire/H&S regulations stop you having anything in the hallway that's an obstruction or it should be permanently fixed to the wall. In our old flat we were supposed to have nailed the hall table to the wall. Ridiculous for furniture that was so heavy it wouldn't move, but that's legislation for you.

Whether the management company decide to take any notice of the legislation is a different matter. If they aren't bothered (they should be, they can get fined/sued) and neither are the other tenants, and you are all prepared to take the risk, then that's your call. But if the other tenants aren't keeping their buggies/bikes in the hallway, then it's not fair for you to keep yours in the hallway either.

It's your choice to live in a 3rd floor flat and this is a reason many people chose not to. However, one solution would be to ask the management company to consider building a storage cupboard in the hallway, specifically for pushchairs/bikes.

WhatIsPi · 07/01/2012 19:59

Surely its a matter of cutting your cloth to meet your circumstances - you're on the 3rd floor so you get an umbrella fold from birth and carry it up - I've done it, its not that hard.

Sometime a maclaren is the only way forward. You can get the dc upstairs, get them sorted then go back for it - I wouldnt even consider having one of those carrycot plus base things if I lived in a flat. Mind you I wouldnt have one anyway as they're a nightmare on public transport.

ditziness · 07/01/2012 20:03

My friend who lives on the third floor had a mclaren from birth. She locks it up folded and hanging by the handles over the stair bannister at the bottom of the stair. Has done for the three years she's used it. No one in her stair has ever minded.

howsillyihavetohaveanickname · 16/07/2012 16:32

Hi,
I am a person who lives in a block with prams (but only one person with a baby). I have come home today find three prams littering my hall, making moving through it very hard. It wouldn't be so bad but the same people also store two bikes in the hall as well.

But that is not why I took the time to register.
I just wanted to let you know that the person complaining might not be petty, they might have Aspergers, like I do.

They might find just the thought of a empty, clear, parallel line hall filled with things very upsetting. Then add the danger if there is something like a fire and just that could be enough to cause an autistic meltdown.

And here is where the paradox kicks even.

Even though the quality of the AS sufferer is suffering, they know that they cannot complain owing the pedestal that parents put their kids on when it comes to pointing things out.

I don't mean to come here as a stranger and cause problems, I just wanted to point out that there might be a reason other than being difficult :)

cuntflapwankbadger · 16/07/2012 16:33

zombie alert

dexter73 · 16/07/2012 16:38

I thought this sounded familiar!

StrandedBear · 16/07/2012 16:43

Why do people bump old threads?

OutragedAtThePriceOfFreddos · 16/07/2012 16:49

Probably because if they're new, they don't realise it's not 'the done thing'.

gettingeasier · 16/07/2012 16:56

Can I just ask how does it get found from soooo long ago ?

kinkyfuckery · 16/07/2012 16:58

We also used to store our pram downstairs when we lived in a 3rd floor flat. We didn't know there was a problem with any of the neighbours until one of them took it upon herself to let us know - by setting fire to the pram!

After that, for our DC2, I used a lighter, easier-to-fold pushchair and/or a sling.

kinkyfuckery · 16/07/2012 16:59

Ooops, sorry, didn't realise it was a necro-post!

howsillyihavetohaveanickname · 19/07/2012 11:30

Sorry, have I made a mistake, is that why you called me a name, a zombie?
Its not my fault that the meds I have to take can slow down my cognitive ability. I tend not to think of it as being a zombie, but doing what I have to do to be able to interact with the Humans around me.

I didn't bump an old thread. I found information from Google about something, once I had read it I wanted to add my voice. The post before mine is 6 months old. Does that mean the information is no longer relevant?

Some of the threads on the forums I contribute to have threads that run for years, spanning hundreds of pages.

Why is it not the done thing to post to a 6 month old thread?
Remember, I have Aspergers so all the rules that are natural to you have to be studied and learnt by me.

I dont do things to upset people, people are upset by me as I don't know the unwritten rules to pass as "normal".I had expected a little more tolerance from a group of mums; 1 in 88 babies are now born on the Autistic Spectrum of Disorders. How many mums registered here?

dexter73 · 19/07/2012 11:57

You're not a zombie, the thread is. It is probably a better idea to start a new thread if you have something you want to talk about then to post on an old thread as the problem the op had has presumably now been solved.

sleepsforwimps2010 · 19/07/2012 12:00

the term ' zombie' isn't referring to you as a person, it refers to an old thread thats ' come back from the dead' so very old or finished

valiumredhead · 19/07/2012 12:12

Tbf MN is one of the few places where it's more acceptable to start a new thread than bump an old one. Some forums you get told off for starting new ones. You can't win!

nattabox · 29/08/2012 14:57

I came across this whilst looking up 'communal hallway usage and rights'. We similarly live on the 2nd floor of a converted house, we rent our flat privately though with no agency, we know the landlord. The woman on the ground floor owns her flat and is very territorial and manipulative. There is ample space in the communal hallway on entry to the property, there is even a little space off the main runway which would fit a buggy perfectly but she won't have it. An interior designer who works from home with two grown up children so you'd think she might understand but as buggies are not very aesthetically pleasing, I have to suffer. And suffer I do, it is painful as I have a slipped disc, difficult and I am loath to let her win. My friend lived in our flat before us, she had exactly the same problem and I used to tell her she was mad letting the lady get away with it but now I know how she can be, I am doing it too. I don't want to live in a war zone but I also don't want to give in. I was looking for any external support but there is none!

scottishmummy · 29/08/2012 15:08

regardless of size of hall it's not storage for your pram,given you had problems last time why haven't you adapted
knowing you live 3 floor up why buy 10kg pram,when you have to carry up and down
if I were your neighbour I'd complain.it looks shabby storing baby detritus in shared hall

porcamiseria · 29/08/2012 15:59

Oh dear

I should not laugh but am, poor woman thinking she was being called a zombie!!!!!

HecateHarshPants · 29/08/2012 17:19

Nobody was calling you a zombie. It is just used to alert people to the fact that it is an old thread.

Many people don't notice the date on them and then get to the end, comment, only to discover the thread is yonks old and nobody cares any more.

The op of this thread is probably no longer looking for advice on this issue.

Nobody was having a go at you.

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