No stair bannister

[Decaf83]

We’ve seen a lovely house for sale that ticks all the boxes except the current owners have completely removed the stair bannister. Kind of like the below.

Not sure whether we would be able to ask current owners to put it back if we bought it, or should we just forget it and find something else..?

Not sure I’d feel safe with no bannister and a big drop, we have young children too so would be a bit of a worry!

Building control is only relevant if you are doing current work that needs to be signed off to current standards. 90% of the housing stock in the UK wouldn’t meet current building regs.

Yes I Know that . However building controls rules around bannisters first came into place in 1966. So unless the house is older than that there is a requirement to have a bannister of some sort.

In any case falling down stairs is the biggest cause of accidental death in the UK. 700 to 900 people per year. So I’d suggest asking a seller to rectify this safety concern is reasonable rather than ridiculous.

One of the biggest I meant to say.

You’ve been lucky so far
Yeah, we - all the inhabitants of and visitors to the house - have been "lucky" for nearly 40 years.
I found a RoSPA page which says that deaths from falls have nearly doubled in a decade. Either the H&S industry is doing something spectacularly wrong or we are just getting older and more doddery.

In any case falling down stairs is the biggest cause of accidental death in the UK.
I don't think that is quite right. There are definitions for these things and the strict definition (W10) is "stairs and steps". This includes escalators, inclines, ramps and snowy/icy conditions.. It's not just domestic staircases.

A friend of mine died falling down the stairs in her house. So like I say it only has to happen once.

If you had read my follow up comment, you’ll see that to say ‘one of the biggest’ rather than ‘the biggest’.

Any evidence that lack of a bannister was a factor?

You seem to be unlucky, one friend died falling down the stairs, your four year old fell down the stairs despite the presence of a bannister.

People fall down the stairs due to wobbliness of inattention. You have shown no evidence that the presence or absence of a non wall side bannister is a factor in those falls.

Safety aside, I think it looks unfinished, like someone just put a ladder up. It looks like an easy fix and wouldn’t put me off buying it if you love the rest of the house.

I saw my son fall down the stairs and could see the newly installed ballustrades stopped him going over the edge.

It’s like not wearing a seatbelt in a car. You’ll probably be ok , but if anything happens then you’ll want it to be there.

If you are happy having no bannister in your house then that’s your decision, it’s just not something I would do.

Yes this as well. Our house looked silly without a bannister, and it made a massive visual improvement once installed.

There's always something that you feel you really need to do/have done when you buy a property. This is the one for you, and doable. You can get quotes in while legal paperwork is going through with a view to getting it done quite soon after completion.

i know someone that did that. It’s pretty stupid but it’s not something they’ve hidden it away.

If you like the house get a quote to redo the bannisters and then either do them yourselves or ask if they will deduct the cost - it depends how confident they are of getting more offers.

If they are desperate they may do it themselves. Make it part of your offer, don’t rely on them being agreeable later as it’s clearly part of the house and not something uncovered by a survey.

You just install one after you buy it. It would only take about 2 hours to collect rail and install. Use long screws.

We had the same issue and added this once we had moved in, ignore the colours - it still needs to be painted!

Thank you! That looks lovely!

Good point. I would ask the vendors to install one between exchange and completion. Offer to go halves on the cost.

Or sickness, a sudden stroke, an animal rushing past...

Or because they trip and there is no bannister to hold on to.

It's a relatively easy job to get a banister rail installed by a carpenter as soon as you move in, they could even do a temporary one to keep you all safe until you work out what you want long term.