The building · II
A shared entrance
The commonest London address there is: a Victorian or Edwardian house divided into flats, with a hall, a staircase and a front path that belong to everybody and to nobody. Almost every difficulty in this kind of move happens in those shared parts.
The flat is yours. The route out of it is not, and the lease usually says whose responsibility the paintwork is.
What a conversion move involves
Measure the turn, not the width
On a converted staircase the number that matters is not the width of the flight. It is the clear diagonal at the turn, measured from the inside corner to the furthest opposite point with the handrail allowed for.
That figure sets the longest rigid object that can come down, and it is the reason a sofa that went up in 2014 sometimes will not come down in 2026 — because the sofa has not changed and somebody has since fitted a new handrail.
The communal parts belong to the freeholder
In most leases the decoration of the hall and the staircase is the freeholder's responsibility, recharged to leaseholders through the service charge. Damage on a moving day is therefore everybody's problem and the leaseholders' bill.
So protection goes down as standard, and it is worth telling the freeholder or managing agent in advance. Marked communal walls are the most common post-move dispute at this kind of address and very nearly all of it is preventable.
What the freeholder may ask for
Increasingly, a copy of our public liability insurance certificate before the day. It is a reasonable request and we send it as a matter of course once you tell us who to send it to.
Some leases go further and restrict moves to weekdays or to stated hours. Ask the week you exchange or sign, rather than the week you move — agents are rarely quick and this is not a same-day question.
Ground floor, and the garden flat problem
A garden flat looks like the easy one and frequently is not. Access is often through a side return or down an external staircase, and the route is narrower than the front door suggests. Photographs at the viewing stage are worth more than a description.
A shared entrance
Questions about a shared entrance
- 01
How do I measure the stair turn?
Stand on the landing and measure the clear diagonal from the inside corner to the furthest opposite point, allowing for the handrail. Send us that and the length of your longest rigid piece.
- 02
Do we have to tell the freeholder?
Check the lease. Many require notice, some require hours to be observed, and most managing agents will want our insurance certificate. None of it is difficult and all of it is slow.
- 03
What if the sofa will not come down?
We establish that at survey rather than on the day. Options are dismantling, a window exit where the building permits it, or selling it — and knowing which, weeks ahead, is the whole point of the survey.
- 04
Who pays if the communal hall is marked?
It should not happen, and protection goes down to make sure it does not. If it does, our cover deals with it — which is exactly why the freeholder asks for the certificate.
- 05
Can you move a garden flat?
Yes. Send photographs of the side return or the external stair at the viewing stage, because the route is frequently narrower than the front elevation suggests.
- 06
Is a conversion harder than a block?
Different. A block has rules and a lift; a conversion has no rules and no lift. On balance the stairs cause more trouble than the paperwork.
What kind of address is it?
Both addresses, and what kind of building each one is. That second answer tells us how many people have to agree before anything can happen.