Communal hallway questions

[londongirl158]

Hi all!

My neighbours (despite my asking politely at least 6 times) continue to use a narrow hallway as storage for their rubbish essentially. And when I say rubbish, literally rubbish. I ask them to keep it clear (it's the only fire escape) and it's cleared then the next two days other stuff appears.

Does anyone have any advice? It's driving me insane now.

Is it a leasehold property? If so, you need to approach the freeholder or managing agent.

Agree who owns the hallway,
Landlord/leasehold company and complain to them

We had a problem in a flat we lived in years ago where a family kept keeping their bikes outside their flat- 2 or 3 bikes! I couldn't get past! I complained to the property management company and the neighbours were not happy with me but oh well!! And their bikes soon stopped hanging about the hall

It is a fire risk.

Not sure what type of flats you live in but simply mention it to your management company/freeholder that they keep storing rubbish in part of the hall and it is a fire risk. Also ask them to do random inspections.

The problem is it's a shared freehold between three flats, them being part of the owner of it so really it's only them to escalate it to, and it's getting to the stage I literally cannot get past at times!!

I am in a similar situation and know how frustrating it is.
It is difficult to handle without causing a big argument:/

I need to deal with 1000 pairs of shoes as well, which does not look attractive.

I would move whatever they leave in front of their door.

If there's no managing agent and you share the freehold, I'd ask the local fire brigade to come and do a risk review and potentially put an enforcement notice on them. As joint FHs they share liability for the area.

I was going to suggest asking the fire brigade to come and do a safety check. Some offer a free service only to vulnerable residents, but if you explain the issue I expect they'd be interested, especially if it's blocking the fire exit.

Take photos, so you have evidence to show, even if the hallway is clear when they come.

it's likely to be against the terms of your buildings insurance, too.

I would be very tempted to sneakily slit the bottom of a couple of the bags, so that when they do eventually move them, all the trash falls out and makes a huge mess that they will then have to clean up.

Does it affect the 3rd freeholder or just you?