Hello
I am some way down the line in buying a maisonette (to let out), which I am keen to go ahead with. However, I have just discovered that there are two rather unusual fire escapes in the flat which lead into the adjoining maisonettes. There is a 3'6" tall door on the landing which bizarrely has a Yale lock on it, and a door on the neighbour's side which also has a Yale lock -- it's like those doubled-up doors between hotel rooms but with the locks reversed (odd to have a fire escape that can lock you out!). I had never heard of this arrangement before but Local Government Group Guidance says at para 56.27:
Escape via .. pass doors between neighbouring flats ... was a commonly accepted alternative escape arrangement under previous benchmark standards and can be found in many existing blocks of flats.
It goes on to say that this type of fire escape is not really considered appropriate these days, but they can be retained as a last resort when there is no other suitable fire escape.
Obviously there is a privacy / security risk here, as unlikely as it may be the neighbours could enter this property in circumstances other than escaping a fire, and vice versa (possibly not even maliciously -- it could just be their kids messing around or something). My suggestion for a quick and cheap solution would be to fix an alarm system to the door, as that would strongly discourage frivolous or malicious misuse by the neighbours (or by my tenants for that matter!). Does that sound sensible? Would this fire escape arrangement put potential tenants off or significantly worsen the potential re-sale value of the flat? (Although on this point, if I get the doors re-done subtly I doubt tenants or even potential purchasers would even notice until after they'd signed on the dotted line).
I asked advice on another forum about this but I only got rather shrill responses along the lines "OMG YOU'RE GOING TO GET RAPED", so I'd welcome some further thoughts on this.
(Mods - I appreciate that there is a sub-forum devoted to Safety, but as I'm not really asking about the fire safety aspects of this arrangement I thought there would be more interest on this subject in the general forum - hope that's okay.)
I am some way down the line in buying a maisonette (to let out), which I am keen to go ahead with. However, I have just discovered that there are two rather unusual fire escapes in the flat which lead into the adjoining maisonettes. There is a 3'6" tall door on the landing which bizarrely has a Yale lock on it, and a door on the neighbour's side which also has a Yale lock -- it's like those doubled-up doors between hotel rooms but with the locks reversed (odd to have a fire escape that can lock you out!). I had never heard of this arrangement before but Local Government Group Guidance says at para 56.27:
Quote:
Escape via .. pass doors between neighbouring flats ... was a commonly accepted alternative escape arrangement under previous benchmark standards and can be found in many existing blocks of flats.
Obviously there is a privacy / security risk here, as unlikely as it may be the neighbours could enter this property in circumstances other than escaping a fire, and vice versa (possibly not even maliciously -- it could just be their kids messing around or something). My suggestion for a quick and cheap solution would be to fix an alarm system to the door, as that would strongly discourage frivolous or malicious misuse by the neighbours (or by my tenants for that matter!). Does that sound sensible? Would this fire escape arrangement put potential tenants off or significantly worsen the potential re-sale value of the flat? (Although on this point, if I get the doors re-done subtly I doubt tenants or even potential purchasers would even notice until after they'd signed on the dotted line).
I asked advice on another forum about this but I only got rather shrill responses along the lines "OMG YOU'RE GOING TO GET RAPED", so I'd welcome some further thoughts on this.
(Mods - I appreciate that there is a sub-forum devoted to Safety, but as I'm not really asking about the fire safety aspects of this arrangement I thought there would be more interest on this subject in the general forum - hope that's okay.)