Renting- neighbours have key to our flat in case of fire?!

sammyba

Hi everyone- not sure if this is the right place to ask but just needed to know whether the following is even legal..

So we live in a 1st floor flat of which the downstairs has now been turned into flats too. One of the flats apparently needs a fire door exit to meet regulations and they've said that this door should lead into our corridor (they have a different entrance to us) therefore a fire door will be placed and they will have a key behind glass that they can smash to enter our property.

Is that legal? Once they open that door they are literally in our flat..!!

Any advice?

Thanks

moneyistooshorttomention

Does that apply in reverse as well iyswim? That is, you have a key to their flat in a place that you could smash and get into their flat?

What arrangements are there if you decide to have the locks changed on your flat - ie re opening up this "container" and swopping the key inside?

Perhaps it might be "politic" to take the easiest option - ie swop the lock on your flat and not bother to tell anyone (you ostensibly "forgot" to if asked ever - which I very much doubt you will be). I favour being "open and honest" - but maybe a "little white lie" (ie of doing that lock change and keeping quiet about it) might be the easiest way forward on this occasion.

(NB: keep the old lock barrel - so that you can change the lock back again when you move on. So that you don't get charged for having changed the lock - as it would be the original one again iyswim).

katipip

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Does that apply in reverse as well iyswim? That is, you have a key to their flat in a place that you could smash and get into their flat?

What arrangements are there if you decide to have the locks changed on your flat - ie re opening up this "container" and swopping the key inside?

Perhaps it might be "politic" to take the easiest option - ie swop the lock on your flat and not bother to tell anyone (you ostensibly "forgot" to if asked ever - which I very much doubt you will be). I favour being "open and honest" - but maybe a "little white lie" (ie of doing that lock change and keeping quiet about it) might be the easiest way forward on this occasion.

(NB: keep the old lock barrel - so that you can change the lock back again when you move on. So that you don't get charged for having changed the lock - as it would be the original one again iyswim).

Sorry but I cannot agree with this.

In the event of a fire your neighbour could literally burn to death as they tried to exit through a fire escape which you have rendered useless.

The issue needs tackling before the firedoor is put in - perhaps ask Citizens Advice for guidance.

Davesnave

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Perhaps it might be "politic" to take the easiest option - ie swop the lock on your flat and not bother to tell anyone (you ostensibly "forgot" to if asked ever - which I very much doubt you will be). I favour being "open and honest" - but maybe a "little white lie" (ie of doing that lock change and keeping quiet about it) might be the easiest way forward on this occasion.

I have no idea if this arrangement described is truly acceptable for meeting fire safety regulations, but blocking a fire exit is not an acceptable action.

Seek advice from the fire service in your area.

moneyistooshorttomention

katipip wrote: »

Sorry but I cannot agree with this.

In the event of a fire your neighbour could literally burn to death as they tried to exit through a fire escape which you have rendered useless.

The issue needs tackling before the firedoor is put in - perhaps ask Citizens Advice for guidance.

From what OP said - these are ground floor flats anyway (ie they could just climb out the windows).

chris_m

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

From what OP said - these are ground floor flats anyway (ie they could just climb out the windows).

Depends where the fire is - access to the windows might not be possible, so an alternative is required.

System

If the fire door opens into what is effectively the secure area of the flat I.E. there are no locked/lockable doors between the fire door and the rest of the flat then that is totally unacceptable.

It's all well and good saying that there will be a smash glass key box but they are totally open to abuse and how is the OP to know that they haven't got the key out and start using the door in the OP's absence?

The owner needs to look at a different escape route.

wwl

It's all well and good saying that there will be a smash glass key box but they are totally open to abuse and how is the OP to know that they haven't got the key out and start using the door in the OP's absence?

That's trivially simple - some sort of tamper-evident seal on the door that gets broken when the door is opened. Maybe also on the key case.

You should ask your insurer if they would cover theft via this entry point. Also consider that it opens your property to risk of theft due to poor security of the other flat or its occupants. If they get burgled, so might you.

fairy_lights

I really don't understand why you're landlord thinks this is a good idea, if there was a fire why would your ground floor neighbour need to enter your first floor flat?
And would the key behind glass be in their flat, or next to your front door?

libf

If they're on the ground floor and you're on the first floor, how does this door work? They have a set of stairs that leads up to your property?

davidmcn

I also have no idea what the layout is (perhaps the OP can explain), but as far as fire regulations are concerned I don't think the tenancy/ownership matters, as long as an escape is physically possible - it's quite common in commercial premises for a fire exit to go through an area which is otherwise out of bounds.

I can't remember ever encountering it in residential premises though, and I doubt the landlord can insist that the OP's lease is varied to accommodate this.


ETA The closest I can think of is a B&B I stayed at where our en suite bathroom was effectively a corridor between the fire exit from the landing and an external staircase...