To become increasingly livid at the neighbours leaving the communal hall lights on overnight?

[Jodiewa]

Seriously! This Irritates me every single morning when I leave my flat and see he’s left the hall lights on for twelve hours plus. He rents and I am a leaseholder so in my mad mind he doesn’t have to pay whilst I do! I don’t want to be this person. AIBU? Thanks.

Find out how much it’d be for those timed switches.

I'd bet the costs are minimal. I don't think it's a major issue.

Swap the switch over to push timers. cheap & cheerful

If they are communal lights then no one person gets to decide 🤷🏻‍♀️ Speak to your freeholder about getting timer switches.

Is it just the 2 flats? Are they upstairs from you? Maybe they are worried about finding their way out in case of a fire.
In blocks of flats the communal areas would be lit at night for this reason.

I would have thought safety wise some sort of lighting in communal areas was best

Amazon 20£

I drive my daughter mad with my mantra, don’t light an empty room, so I get you.

Of course they should be on - for safety reasons, surely?

Take the lightbulbs out

We've got motion detector lightbulbs in our hall so they go off after a while

Given we currently only get 7 hours of daylight and the hall-light is a safety feature incase of fire, yes you are being unreasonable.

I wouldn't like the communal areas to be dark so I'd deliberately leave them on (and used to stay on where I used to live actually).

A 60 watt incandescent bulb running for 12 hours is going to cost about 15p.
For LED bulbs it’s about 3p.

Just googled and to keep on LED bulb on for 10 hours is £0.02. So in one month that would equate to £0.60. It's honestly not that much to be angry about given that it is actually a safety precausion too.

@hotmeatymilk

Take the lightbulbs out

Are you serious?????????

@GrannytoaUnicorn As a rule on AIBU, not in the slightest

Arrange for a timer switch to be fitted. In my last place (Victorian conversion), the lights would come on for 45 seconds or so.

You cannot take out the bulbs as that is illegal plus incredibly inconsiderate for anyone who has to navigate stairs to their flat.

Communal areas as in hallways and stairs in flats are routinely lit at night AFAIK.

Take the bulbs out,not a good idea they are there for a very good reason

Find out what type of light bulb is used. Then check the price to replace.

If it’s an led one, as pp have said, it’s buttons to run. Check the type and if it’s a readily available one which can be replaced quickly and cheaply.

However if it’s a weird one that’s difficult to source or expensive I’d be wanting a better alternative fitted.

I had a pal who had a factor on their block and the amount to change a lightbulb was mental, like £200 a go, can’t remember the exact price. They were glad when led lights came out as they last years.

I’d want the light left on for safety and putting off burglars but I’d not want to pay extortionate costs to run or replace it.

I would absolutely expect communal lights to be on for safety reasons.

Perhaps movement sensitive lights would be worth considering, although I think you are talking about pennies anyway.

And the renter will have any overheads factored into the rent, so they are contributing just as you are.

If the lights are out you should still have emergency lighting providing some lighting otherwise it’s not compliant? Standard lighting is pretty useless in a Smokey scenario.

YABU I would want the hallway lit all night definitely- it's a security concern. Also it costs next to nothing.

Also if you're a leaseholder you're not paying for it exactly- you pay ground rent/service charge etc I'm sure you don't actually have to pay an electric bill. If he doesn't pay the service charge then his landlord does so it's still evenly split.