To be annoyed that downstairs flat locks their bike to rest of buildings communal stairs?

[Ouchdownthere]

Live in Victorian conversion. 4 flats, ground floor is exactly that, own front door, front and back garden. Remaining three flats have exterior stairs up to shared front door. We are owner/occupier, ground floor rent.

Ground floor tenants have locked a bike to the exterior steps and there it has stayed for a couple of weeks. It really winds me up! Am tempted to ask them to lock it in their back garden as they aren't using it daily. But AIBU? If the stairs were also shared by them I wouldn't have an issue. Should I say something or just get over it?

I like the front of the building to look tidy, but, I know I can be a bit of a control freak about these things.

Spill paint on the seat?

Good point Mishy

I wouldn't complain, but I might mention that I'd seen a dodgy looking bloke fiddling with the lock the other day

Step AWAY from the bike,Ouch

Are you sure it doesn't belong to ground floor rather than basement? I would be annoyed as the basement tenants have their own outside space, but I don't think it's U for the communal tenants to do it. My sister does at her flat, the alternative being to haul the bike upstairs and keep it in the narrow hallway.

So my annoyance would be based on the fact that the railings are nowt to do with them, rather than the bike being there.

Ooh good one plant.

It was an accident skinny it just fell out of my hands as I was struggling up the steps BECAUSE THE HANDRAIL HAD A BIKE LOCKED TO IT

When you say they have their own garden to lock it in... is that out in the garden in rain & all elements or is it inside a decent quality secure and dry garden shed?

Where would it be harder to steal it from, where they lock it now or in the garden, even if they had a shed with a few padlocks on it?

This would really annoy me to be honest - the stairs are shared amongst three other flats and the ground floor tenants don't need to use them. I agree with the other poster's analogy about them being unlikely to chain a bike to the railings of another person's property, same principle applies here.

I would find this intrusive and rude. If they had nowhere else to store the bike and they asked the other flat owners if they minded, it would be fine - but here, they have plenty of other storage options, they just don't want to clutter up their own garden so they're cluttering up someone else's stairs.

I think it's rude as emsyj says, because they didn't ask.

On a practical note, what happens if everyone starts doing it, and if it's outside, is it blocking the pavement or just the steps?

Where I live is student-bike-central and they tie bikes to any post vaguely close to their houses, with the rest that the narrow pavement is often blocked with bikes. If you object there's a blank look and the (true) comment 'everyone does it!'. So it makes me wish someone had been a bit picky the first time it happened.

OTOH it is fairly small in the scheme of things so why not wait until your dad is actually visiting and knock on the door to ask can they move them today as he needs to grab the rail? If they are nice people this will probably lead in to them offering to store the bikes elsewhere or realizing they're in the way, if not ... well, they're probably arses but at least you didn't annoy arses with a picky request.

It's out in the elements now as its an external set of steps up to the entrance to the top three flats. They have both a front and fully enclosed back garden where it could be locked and would be more safe than out the front where anyone could easily get to it.

emsy thank you for your reply, I know it seems petty to some, and I do think I will probably just remain irked rather than be that woman that appears petty and says something. However, why should we, the group of people who like thinks to look presentable and have respect for shared space be made to feel like we are betting petty, why do our opinions never seem valid? (I mean in a general way, not in the MN replies here)

It does stagger me that some people do think it's ok just to lock their bike to someone else's hand rail (a hand rail that is used, albeit not often). Odd.

Well this is it LDR. We have spent money and time doing up the exterior of the building even though a lot of the houses in the road are no more than rubbish dumps outside. The bike being locked outside does make the building look tattier and that in itself encourages people to also not look after the bins, idly discarding items that arent collected with the bins.

Good suggestion though to ask for it to be removed when dad visiting. Most people are decent, it's just a symptom of how we live in isolation in some areas! so people don't think of anyone but themselves.

I don't think you are being unreasonable. For starters, the stairs are not for them so agree it would be like chaining our bike to your neighbours fence. Also,you said you put in the hand rail! So you have paid to have the use of a hand rail and now can't as they are using YOUR hand rail as a bike rack, that's not right at all.

I wouldn't bang on about your time and money - they didn't ask you to spend it, and it's not really the point. I would focus on the fact you and your dad use the handrail. I'm territorial too and that'd annoy me as you only have to slip once, don't you, before you wonder why you didn't make them get rid of the bikes before.

People round here time bikes to anything that is upright and it is massively annoying, maybe they moved from somewhere where it is more acceptable? Anyway, your right to say something; not their right, so end of story really.

True fluffy we have not paid for a hand rail now, we have paid for our downstairs flats bike rack.... Hmm

YANBU for all the reasons emsy said.

I live in a house with railings and strangers were always chaining their bikes to them. It looked a mess but I felt mean and prissy for asking them not to until someone sawed though the railing to nick a bike. I learned that cast iron railings are easier to cut than bike chains.

The owner of the bike had the cheek to wail because I hadn't seen it go - like I should be adding being security guard to my part time job as the operator of a free bike park.

I had to replace the railing at my expense because it left a dangerous gap as well as looking awful. He didn't offer to pay.

Anyway, check the lease. You're not usually allowed to store things in the communal area of flats and this is a communal area - just not one of theirs.

Tell the cheeky gits to move it and store it in their own garden

You do indeed need to get a grip. If you are a control freak, I can understand you don't like it, but I think for the majority of people, it wouldn't be a problem.
So YABU. Sorry.

YANBU- do you have any idea who is responsible for the communal areas? If someone falls because a bike is prohibiting the use of the hand rail, all 4 flats could be held jointly liable for any claim made by the third party. Doesn't matter who left it there!

I'm not a control freak, but I do object to people encroaching on my space - different things annoy different people I guess. The stairs are not part of the ground floor flat's communal space, therefore not part of their property, so to me it is the equivalent of your next door neighbour chaining their bike to the front of your house. It may not get in your way or cause any damage, but it's cheeky and presumptuous.

I think it would be different if it was someone who lived in one of the upstairs flats doing it - they have some partial ownership/interest in the stairs. The ground floor tenants do not.

It's dangerous - like my missing railing which left a child-sized gap above a 15ft drop into the basement.

If anybody falls on the stairs because of obstacles they can claim on the buildings insurance.

Insurance is the responsibility of the freeholder. So if you have a share of the freehold your premium will go up. You may even not covered if you're breaking an obligation on all leaseholders to keep stairwells clear or take steps to remind people to do it.

If you are a leaseholder this is almost certainly breaking your leasehold agreement and the freeholder may claim from you or even start eviction proceedings. That won't happen but it's not a pleasant thing to go through and it will cost you and the rest of the leaseholders to make it go away.

Potentially very expensive for just a bike.

Check the policy or with the freeholders. That way you can say to the person that it's not your fault, they're making you do it.

Plus I agree with the others. It's not being a control freak not to want people encroaching on your space, especially when they have perfectly secure space of their own if only they could be arsed to carry the bike through.