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Flat with two main entrances ...

Started by Ubiquitous, May 05, 2021, 04:30:27 AM

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Ubiquitous

Good day.

We converted a former family house into two flats.

The downstairs flat has two entrances - from the communal (shared) hallway, there is a bedroom door first to the ground flat, then another door that leads to the lounge, kitchen, toilet, and garden.
Both doors are fire doors. Fitting one single main entry door before the bedroom door, which is before the lounge door, is to tight a fit between the stairs and shape of the wall angle curve.

The local council were out and served an improvement notice for a number of points, all sorted, except for this 1 hazard - which was the tenant put up a curtain in front of the bedroom door. If the curtain is removed - it will reveal the 2 fire doors bedroom and lounge entrances...

This is unusual but is not a hazard as both doors are fire doors. If i cannot put a door between the staircase and wall in front of the bedroom (making a single door entry to the whole flat), can the local council continue to pressure or make issues for myself on this one point?

I feel like the council enforcement officer has been very unfair, and taken the side of a former tenant, who frauded the system to get fast social housing. Tenant lied about mould and structural issues, though non of that was mentioned in report, smoking pot scenting the flat before council enforcement officer inspection and blaming it on other flat tenant etc etc. Our property is always kept to a great standard apart from the - unusual ground floor flat two entrances.

Below is the classification the council officer keeps resending with little explanation other than repeating this copy and paste:


257HMOs: certain converted blocks of flats

This section has no associated Explanatory Notes

(1)For the purposes of this section a "converted block of flats" means a building or part of a building which—

(a)has been converted into, and

(b)consists of,

self-contained flats.

(2)This section applies to a converted block of flats if—

(a)building work undertaken in connection with the conversion did not comply with the appropriate building standards and still does not comply with them; and

(b)less than two-thirds of the self-contained flats are owner-occupied.

(3)In subsection (2) "appropriate building standards" means—

(a)in the case of a converted block of flats—

(i)on which building work was completed before 1st June 1992 or which is dealt with by regulation 20 of the Building Regulations 1991 (S.I. 1991/2768), and

(ii)which would not have been exempt under those Regulations,

building standards equivalent to those imposed, in relation to a building or part of a building to which those Regulations applied, by those Regulations as they had effect on 1st June 1992; and

(b)in the case of any other converted block of flats, the requirements imposed at the time in relation to it by regulations under section 1 of the Building Act 1984 (c. 55).




Thanks !