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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to leave my pram in the hallway?

73 replies

coolbeans · 30/12/2009 18:47

We live in mansion block in central London, (so not the world's most child friendly dwelling).

There are three flats on the ground floor and ours is the furthest one back. It's a very big communal hall.

Anyway our (lovely) next door neighbours have rented out their flat and one of the new tenants has just complained to me about the fact that I leave my pram outside our door. Bear in mind this is nowhere near theirs and so the pram doesn't pose any kind of difficulty or obstacle to them, apart from, clearly, an aesthetic one.

She was quite rude and snotty and apparently its very presence "makes it look like a shanty town in here"

A bit far, no. It's a pram and a scooter, ffs, not a cardboard shack covered in newspaper.

Not huge amounts of space in the flat, hence leaving it outside my front door, in my third of the communal space.

Suppose I can (will) fold it up and bring it in, but what a pain!

(And, my other lovely neighbour told me to ignore her - she's not at all fussed and doesn't see it as an eyesore).

OP posts:
pippaNnippa · 30/12/2009 19:31

put and empty fridge outside and see her face

MummyDragon · 30/12/2009 19:32

Sorry, my browser wasn't displaying correctly - Cirrhosis, I didn't see the smiley faces in your post, so didn't realise you were being sarky, sorry

OP, don't contact your neighbour's landlords - it has nothing to do with them. What do you expect them to do, ask your neighbour to stop talking to you?? You need to sort this out yourself.

And - no, the communal hall is not your home.

I would be very, very surprised if your deeds/freehold/whatever actually allowed you to park your buggy etc in the communal hall. I would be very happy on your behalf if you proved me wrong though

MamaVoo · 30/12/2009 19:37

Leave it where it is. Seriously, how much time is she going to spend in the hallway looking at it anyway? Chances are if you move it she'll just moan about something else.

domesticslattern · 30/12/2009 19:38

no no extremist, the more domestics the better!

susiey · 30/12/2009 19:39

I'm sorry but I think yabu we lived in communal flats last year( london mansion block) and were not allowed to keep things in the hallway it was in the tenancy agreement.

if its not in the tenancy agreement then you can't keep it there

I know its a pain but we now hang ours on ikea bicycle hooks just inside our door its just part of london life

Georgimama · 30/12/2009 19:42

She sounds neurotic as hell, but unfortunately

  1. covenants in your leasehold title and/or the building's management co rules will probably say something not in your favour about leaving possessions in communal areas

  2. just because she came to nuisance (ie you were doing it before she moved in and no one else cared) doesn't mean she has to put up with, if there is something in the lease/building management company rules.

If you have a building management co which holds regular meetings you could get it to decide in the minutes that you are allowed to leave the pram in the hallway. Then she would have to shut up.

What mummydragon said, basically.

maryz · 30/12/2009 19:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

maryz · 30/12/2009 19:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

overweightnoverdrawn · 30/12/2009 19:50

get your mates round and get them to park all their spare buggies out side for a day or two .

Lotkinsgonecurly · 30/12/2009 19:53

Make the pram get larger. Borrow a huge silver cross one, or one designed for triplets. Then replacing it with your zapp will seem quite reasonable.

stressheaderic · 30/12/2009 19:54

Pramgate was an epic thread - I was gripped.

Need photos of this hall/pram situation to make a judgement/be nosey...

scottishmummy · 30/12/2009 20:06

your pram should be stored in your flat not dumped in communal hallway.Storage of your pram is your responsibility your neighbours dont have to gawp at your baby cart.sort it out

scottishmummy · 30/12/2009 20:09

zapp folds tiny you have no excuse.remove it from communal hall

goodnightmoon · 30/12/2009 20:13

yanbu, though i suppose you're out of luck if the leasehold terms don't allow it.

I lived in a house of just two flats and the narrow hall was full of our crap - bike on the wall and buggy underneath. (we lived up another flight of stairs). Fortunately our co-tenants were cool about it.

have lived in mansion blocks too where people kept all sorts of stuff outside - it really shouldn't be a big deal - there just isn't enough space in most London flats.

scottishmummy · 30/12/2009 20:16

communal halls are not overflow storage space.dont have enough space?tough titty dont dump extraneous items in hall. it is selfish and looks aesthetically rough to dump various items.

tethersjinglebellend · 30/12/2009 20:17

I'm more worried that your neighbour uses the phrase 'shanty town' as an insult TBH.

Completely disregarding the ethics and/or legality of leaving the pram in the hall, YANBU because she sounds like an utter twat.

RainRainGoAway · 30/12/2009 20:18

Having read the other thread about this at the time, I think you need to move the pram. By the end of the last thread there was a huge amount of support for moving the pram out of the way.

Sorry. But YABU.

IlanaK · 30/12/2009 20:30

I lived until very recently in a mansion block in central London. Our flat was at the far end of the hallway so only our next door neighbour would come anyway near our door. I would never leave my pram outside (besides there being limited space inside) as it was just not reasonable as a permenant parking place. I did leave it outside the door if it was wet from rain and needed to dry off but not overnight. When we recently moved, we needed to leave it outside for a week or so as we were packing up tonnes of boxes and ran out of space. I made sure to knock on my neighbours door first, explain the problem and ask them if they minded (which they did not).

As annoying as it is to you, it is really not reasonable for you to leave in outside.

ChilloHippi · 30/12/2009 20:31

Throw a manky old sheet over it and have a pair of boots sticking out so it looks like someone is lying there

domesticextremist · 30/12/2009 20:33

If you do end up taking it in be sure to replace it with one of those comedy welcome mats - that will annoy Mrs Shanty Town no end...

Not that I actually advocate pissing people off who you have to live with but she seems to have no problem with it...

tethersjinglebellend · 30/12/2009 20:37

Cover your front door in cardboard and corrugated plastic. And then run an open sewer from your flat into the street via the communal hallway.

'Shanty town' indeed...

SleighGirl · 30/12/2009 20:40

RAinRAinGoAway - have you seen the photo in the other thread??????

It was just hysterical, the op couldn't get out of her flat to the outside without having to move the pram!

coolbeans · 30/12/2009 20:42

Actually, I'm not 'dumping' anything. I'm leaving my small(ish) pram outside my front door.

I'm perfectly prepared to check my deeds and see if this particular situation is covered, and I'm now assuming that the probability is that I am not entitled to do so.

However, regardless of the legalities of this particular scenario, I do not think that it is so far out of the ordinary to park my pram in a hallway that can easily accommodate it.

I don't feel that I'm being anti-social or infringing on the rights of anyone else.
It's a pram, not a burnt out car. I try to be a considerate neighbour, and engage in the necessary give and take that living in such circumstances entails. As I said, at the beginning, I will fold it up, but it will be a pain.

Whilst, I can see that some feel that it is not acceptable, I wouldn't (see bike rack for an example), make a fuss about something that, in the end, really doesn't freaking matter.

OP posts:
scottishmummy · 30/12/2009 20:45

zapp isnt a pain to fold,its a dawdle.isnt your hall is shared communal domain with an expectation you don't dump extraneous items outside in it

SleighGirl · 30/12/2009 20:46

coolbeans I'm with you completely, a little bit of tolerance goes a long way with shared space. A zapp isn't actually a large pushchair or anything is it.

Did you read the other thread and view the photo though - it is hysterical!