Hate to be a downer but I think this idea would be a fire hazard. The stairwell just isn’t made for this use or capacity. It’s a transient, liminal space.
Perhaps install a staircase for the staircase. It's just a matter of permissions.
‘One step at a time’: entrepreneur buys stairwell in London to help startups
11–20 of 33 posts
Re: ‘One step at a time’: entrepreneur buys stairwell in London to help startups
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
Then don't use it? What if we put a big sticker on it with your comment so everyone is aware of the risk?
Fire codes are not just about users. Think of responders. One cannot opt out of fires codes meant to protect the firefighters who may well have to rescue people from stairwells. For instance: no clutter like office desks to trip them up. Or, no combustibles in an open, vertical , space that fire could use to spread.
Firefighters are responsible for protecting themselves. If a situation is too dangerous, they can prioritize their safety first.
Re: ‘One step at a time’: entrepreneur buys stairwell in London to help startups
#13Background article, from a week ago when this property was up for sale: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jul/30/step-to-rich...
Re: ‘One step at a time’: entrepreneur buys stairwell in London to help startups
#14Maybe it's because I'm American, but my first thought was ... there's a separate building and it's just the stairs? So if they sold it, how would the people in the building next door get up and down? How does a structure that's just stairs have a separate title that can be sold? The entire premise of this is so incomprehensible to me. Brits -- is this a common thing?
It's a "disused stairwell," so presumably, the building it serviced has a different stairwell now.
More about it here: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jul/30/step-to-rich...
Re: ‘One step at a time’: entrepreneur buys stairwell in London to help startups
#15Hate to be a downer but I think this idea would be a fire hazard. The stairwell just isn’t made for this use or capacity. It’s a transient, liminal space.
It should be safe if there is a clearly marked exit route, fire doors every seven steps, and a fire escape ladder.
Re: ‘One step at a time’: entrepreneur buys stairwell in London to help startups
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
Fire codes are not just about users. Think of responders. One cannot opt out of fires codes meant to protect the firefighters who may well have to rescue people from stairwells. For instance: no clutter like office desks to trip them up. Or, no combustibles in an open, vertical , space that fire could use to spread.
Firefighters are responsible for protecting themselves. If a situation is too dangerous, they can prioritize their safety first.
They are literally responsible for putting themselves at some risk to save others.
Discovering a situation is unsafe for firefighters once they are already in it is the norm, not the exception, when fire code violations are present.
Re: ‘One step at a time’: entrepreneur buys stairwell in London to help startups
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
It certainly is. What parent is asking is whether selling just the stairs in a building, or happenstances to that effect, are common in Britain.
It’s not common, that’s why there’s a news article about it. But they aren’t buying the stairs. The stairs are worthless. They’re buying the land underneath. As far as I understand the stairs are disconnected from the adjacent property and unused. edit: here’s the first article when it was still up for sale: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jul/30/step-to-rich...
They aren’t buying the land either, it’s a leasehold.
Re: ‘One step at a time’: entrepreneur buys stairwell in London to help startups
#18> he was not interested in developing the stairwell in order to sell it: “I don’t want to contribute to increasing the prices of rent and housing for people. I don’t think it’s net-positive for society.
How is taking risk trying to increase the amount of wealth not positive? I would understand if he said "I have a better plan for this place than developing it for sale", but this line of thinking...
Re: ‘One step at a time’: entrepreneur buys stairwell in London to help startups
#19Maybe it's because I'm American, but my first thought was ... there's a separate building and it's just the stairs? So if they sold it, how would the people in the building next door get up and down? How does a structure that's just stairs have a separate title that can be sold? The entire premise of this is so incomprehensible to me. Brits -- is this a common thing?
> How does a structure that's just stairs have a separate title that can be sold? You can sell any subdivision of land. Happens all the time, e.g. a house on a large plot of land is demolished and the land divided into land for multiple new houses. Or two neighbours might exchange some land if the border is not convenient. Is this not a thing in the US?
In the US, at least in most places, you can’t subdivide your land at will. When you buy a piece of land, it’s worth more if it’s zoned such that it can legally be subdivided.
Re: ‘One step at a time’: entrepreneur buys stairwell in London to help startups
#20> he was not interested in developing the stairwell in order to sell it: “I don’t want to contribute to increasing the prices of rent and housing for people. I don’t think it’s net-positive for society. How is taking risk trying to increase the amount of wealth not positive? I would understand if he said "I have a better plan for this place than developing it for sale", but this line of thinking...
[deleted]