stair bannister - renting - should i have one

Welshwoofs

For me - this all comes down to what the stairs are like. If they're bog standard stairs which were meant to have hand rails and they've come off at some point in time and not replaced, then I can see the point.

I guess in my mind, whenever I hear of stairs without handrails I think of beautifully designed stairs like this:



Now I'm afraid that if I was renting out somewhere with stairs like that and a tenant asked me to put a handrail on it'd be a cold day in hell before I agreed.

itsnotfair_2

My name comes from a childhood phrase, 'its not fair- well -it's not raining' nothing more. I don't have a clue what you mean about £5 to a charity. I say commanded because I got a letter out of the blue (yes really) stating issues with things I had no idea about giving me just a few weeks to rectify or else.

itsnotfair_2

My son rents a gorgeous apartment like the one in the picture and his landlord would never allow alterations. He is not allowed to hang a picture. But because my son loves the place and respects it he accepts these rules.

Mips

itsnotfair wrote: »

My name comes from a childhood phrase, 'its not fair- well -it's not raining' nothing more. I don't have a clue what you mean about £5 to a charity. I say commanded because I got a letter out of the blue (yes really) stating issues with things I had no idea about giving me just a few weeks to rectify or else.

Was it the 21 days letter?

silvercar

Welshwoofs wrote: »

For me - this all comes down to what the stairs are like. If they're bog standard stairs which were meant to have hand rails and they've come off at some point in time and not replaced, then I can see the point.

I guess in my mind, whenever I hear of stairs without handrails I think of beautifully designed stairs like this:



Now I'm afraid that if I was renting out somewhere with stairs like that and a tenant asked me to put a handrail on it'd be a cold day in hell before I agreed.

I would have thought building regs would demand a handrail on the wall side, but maybe I'm wrong.

clutton_2

WW - if the council surveyor (with his HHSRS regs in hand) came into a house like this - he is likely to insist you put a handrail on the stairs. HHSRS * H&SAW acts are all about safety and protecting tenants lives .... sadly in this litigious age we now live in - if you were asked to put a hand rail in by the council, and you did not, and if a tenant fell they would probably successfully sue you for negligence

renting and health and safety regs are all about risk - and the council do have a statutory duty to ensure rental properties (no matter how beautiful) are safe according to HHSRS regs......

its also about insurance - your insurer would probably not cover you in this scenario .... you know how insurers like to wriggle out of their responsibilities


i expect folks giggle when i constantly remind them that there are 69 different Acts of Parliament which cover rentals.... boring ... but true

Fire_Fox

gemstars wrote: »

I don't understand why people are being so hard on the OP. Handrails are an obvious way of stopping a lot of accidents, whether the person who's using them is pregnant or not. If they're wern't then why would anyone bother installing them at all?

Handrails are not only used for balance issues, they are also necessary for weight bearing. Something stupid like 50% of adults over the age of 50 cannot rise from the sofa unaided (without pushing their arms) as they don't have the leg strength for a full squat. Walking up or down stairs is essentially a series of one legged squats - much more challenging.

That was probably more information than you required ...

tbs624

itsnotfair wrote: »

My name comes from a childhood phrase, 'its not fair- well -it's not raining' nothing more. I don't have a clue what you mean about £5 to a charity. I say commanded because I got a letter out of the blue (yes really) stating issues with things I had no idea about giving me just a few weeks to rectify or else.

Maybe your user name should have been "clueless" - aren't you the same LL who has also managed to stay in not so blissful ignorance of the tenancy deposit laws?

tbs624

silvercar wrote: »

I would have thought building regs would demand a handrail on the wall side, but maybe I'm wrong.

Document * K* of the Building Regs "Protection from Falling, Collision and Impact" says that, in "dwellings", stairs less than 1m wide should have a handrail on one side, if the staircase is wider there should be one on either side. The HR should be affixed at a height between 900 and 1000mm measured from the floor or pitchline to the top of the rail. Side guarding is required for flights of stairs and landings where there is a drop of more than 600mm in houses. The guarding should not be of a type that can be climbed by children under 5 and a 100mm sphere must not be able to pass through any opening (ie the size of a small child's head)

tbs624

clutton wrote: »

i expect folks giggle when i constantly remind them that there are 69 different Acts of Parliament which cover rentals.... boring ... but true

From the NLA: There are now over 50 Acts of Parliament and more than 70 sets of regulations governing the private-rented sector.