stair bannister - renting - should i have one

barnaby-bear

evosy1978 wrote: »

hello,

not long moved into our rented house via an estate agent. the staircase does not have a rail/bannister, my girlfriend is pregnant an has just commented that she would like one to aid her coming down the stairs, ... Someone mentioned to me that it should be provided by law????/

Can anyone help and tell me if this is true and where I stand and if i gota pay for it myself..

thank in advance.;)

Pay for it yourself - probably necessary in a new build but really did the bannister evaporate overnight in a puff of dust? What do you think anyone who's recently bought a house done..... The problem has arisen because said little lady is in the family way - probably best to pursue whoever is responsible.....

barnaby-bear

evosy1978 wrote: »

I didnt understand this bit??

As for the bannister, when coming down the stairs if their was an accidental trip or in girlfriends case a stomach cramp, spasm etc etc (anyhting pregnancy related) and she or i fell, theres nothing to grab onto which could in affect save from anything nasty happening . just the way im looking at it..

thanks for all imput, im gona go and buy one at the weekend.

And if she had the same issue in the street, park, library, tescos, hill walking, shopping centre ????

tbs624

Just drop a friendly letter to the LL/LA saying that you'd like a bannister rail installed as you are concerned about falls on the stairs. Say that you are quite happy to install it and see what they say. Sometimes these things become bigger in our minds that they need to be. Try communication first. See this thread http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=9525971&highlight=hand+rail#post9525971

clutton_2

"Common sense" does not enter into HHSRS regs - bannister rails are almost certainly a grade 2 risk ... i have a property which had landing upright rails 2 cms too wide and even tho 3 adults (none under 16 stones) were moving in - the council made me replace the rails "in case a child fell through"

i also had to do some work in the yard "in case the tenant fell at night when they were hanging out their washing"

i think a council HHSRS surveyor would insist on a handrail on all stairs - irrespective of the age/condition of any tenant

Welshwoofs

evosy1978 wrote: »

Why are you writing such irrelavant information, are you bored? The post is about who pays for the bannister????

Your sure you know that my g/f will manage without the banister??? !!!!!!, who are you, do you really know us? Our curcumstances? ...........

It's not irrelevant information, I'm making a basic point. The point being that pregnant women get along just fine without handrails everywhere they go and have done since the dawn of human kind.

The other point I'd make is that I believe that if you want additional items in your house because of your worry about your girlfriend's mobility when pregnant perhaps it should come out of your own funds rather than looking to your LL to finance your concerns, especially when those concerns are a little OTT.

Now sorry if you find my views harsh - I'm afraid I am from the old school who believes that the world doesn't stop turning for pregnancy/kids ;-)

jay7_2

We were in the same situation three years ago.

tbs624 wrote: »

Just drop a friendly letter to the LL/LA saying that you'd like a bannister rail installed as you are concerned about falls on the stairs. Say that you are quite happy to install it and see what they say.

That's exactly what we did. Eventually our landlord employed a handyman to do the job and paid for it in full.

RabbitMad

Welshwoofs wrote: »

It's not an illness, it's a biological state which doesn't require the woman to be wrapped in cotton wool and treated like bone china.

Be careful here. Men read this thread too. Don't want to be giving away too many secrets.

tbs624

Welshwoofs wrote: »

..The other point I'd make is that I believe that if you want additional items in your house because of your worry about your girlfriend's mobility when pregnant perhaps it should come out of your own funds rather than looking to your LL to finance your concerns, especially when those concerns are a little OTT...

Except that any intelligent LL *would* act to address issues that may come up under an HHSRS assessment, not least because insurers being asked to meet the costs of any T's injury from a fall on the stairs may have questions to ask of the LL if a handrail wasn't available. This would especially be so had the T requested in writing that a handrail be installed and yet the LL failed to act (see Clutton's post and the info in the thread to which I linked earlier.)

penguine

Welshwoofs wrote: »

The other point I'd make is that I believe that if you want additional items in your house because of your worry about your girlfriend's mobility when pregnant perhaps it should come out of your own funds rather than looking to your LL to finance your concerns, especially when those concerns are a little OTT.

I think you're misinterpreting the OP's query. It's his girlfriend who initially expressed concern about the lack of a handrail. He wants to know who should pay for it. "Perhaps" it should come out of his own funds but "perhaps" it's actually the landlord's legal responsibility. If you don't actually know whether this is the case or not, perhaps you shouldn't be criticising the OP for wrapping his girlfriend in cotton wool, especially when she's the one who wants a handrail.

Falling on Stairs etc.

The most vulnerable group is all persons aged 60 years or over and men are more likely to die as an outcome of this hazard than women. Although physical injury is the most likely outcome overall, death may occur several weeks or months after the initial fall injury, due to cardio-respiratory illness, including heart attack, stroke and pneumonia.

Several factors can influence the likelihood of an accident including the following:

• Accidents are nearly twice as likely on stairs consisting of straight steps with no winders or intermediate landings
• Accidents are more likely where the pitch of stairs is more than 42º, and the steeper the pitch, the worse the outcome
• An accident is three times more likely to occur on stairs without carpet covering
  
• The lack of any handrail doubles the likelihood of a fall, even if there is a wall to both sides of the stairs.

www.privatehousinginformation.co.uk/site/138.asp

JayZed

How long are you planning to stay in the property? Because if you're planning to be there more than another year or so, you'll definitely want bannisters once the little one starts toddling.

Welshwoofs, I don't think anyone's asking the world to stop turning or being wrapped in cotton wool. Speaking as someone whose wife was camping and climbing mountains when she was six months pregnant, lack of a handrail on the stairs seems to me to be a perfectly reasonable concern.