Stair height and children?

Wkdwill

I was talking to my neighbour last night and he was telling me about when he got his house he was told that the reason he got it was because of the height of the stairs you wouldn't be allowed to have children living there.

Is this true? I have to admit our stairs are very steep.

p.s. Im sorry if ive put this in the wrong place.

phill99

I'm not sure he is right, but also not sure what he is refering to.

Does he mean the actual height of the stairs ie from ground floor to first floor? The height of the riser or even the ratio of the riser to the tread?

I livein a house in a row of houses built in 1903 and the stairs are incredibly steep and most of my neighbours have children. I really can't see that there could be such a law as it would mean that hundreds of thousands of houses in the UK could only be lived in by adults, which would leads to a massive housing shortage. Ask youyr friend wher he got this info as it sounds dubious to me.

liitleblackcat

It certainly isn't the case for any existing stairs, but new houses and extensions have to meet building regs which do specify the size and angle of the stairs so they aren't too steep. For private houses not in multiple occupancy, Document K sates that stairs must have a miximum rise of 220mm and a minimum going (the tread) of 220mm and a maximum pitch of 42 degrees.

Building regs apply at the time of construction and it is very unlikely that your house was built without approval of some sort, unless it is more than 200 years old. They do change regularly to make things safer.

phill99

Part K. Now I know where you are coming from although that obviously doesn't just applied to children as Wkdwill's neighbour seems to be going on about! Welldone Liitleblackcat.

Wkdwill

It was the height of each step he was on about, I didn't think he was right, it was someone from the housing office that told him this.

Thanks for your replies though

phill99

He sounds like 'The original bullsh***ing Man'