What tenants must do to prevent fire in their homes and buildings

Fire safety conditions you must agree to as a tenant

All Islington Council tenants must sign up to tenancy conditions before moving into your property. These include some about the use of communal areas and fire safety.

These conditions are that you must:

• not make or let any shared or communal area of the estate to become untidy or unclean
• use the shared areas, lifts and services in a reasonable way and make sure that people living in your property, visitors and guests do the same
• not block, interfere with or put anything in front of any fire exits in your household or areas you share with other households
• not smoke, or allow your visitors and guests to smoke, in any substantially enclosed communal areas including open corridor design blocks and substantially enclosed design blocks
• not dump rubbish on any area of the property or estate
• get rid of all large items of rubbish or household waste in a safe and appropriate way
• not obstruct or let anyone else block rights of way, roads, footpaths or other access routes, either across the property, in shared areas or on estates.

The tenancy conditions also describe anti-social behaviour, including putting things in the way of any shared areas, doorways and other entrances and exits.

You will also get a fire safety information document with your sign-up information that gives you general fire safety advice. You can find more general fire safety advice for your home on our webpages.

Layout of communal areas and removing your belongings

There are two ways we manage communal areas depending on the layout of the corridor.

Enclosed or substantially enclosed corridors

Nothing at all can be left in communal areas of blocks with this design.

You can only have:

• one purpose-made doormat measuring no bigger than 75cm by 45cm - the doormat should be in good condition, non-slip and not be made from offcuts of carpet or similar material.

The council can refuse permission for doormats if a Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) says they are unsuitable.

Blocks with open corridor design

Usually, nothing should be stored anywhere in corridors but you can ask for permission from Housing Services to store the following items (except on stairways) as long as they are not:

• blocking fire escape routes
• combustible (flammable) and are not a potential source of ignition for a fire, or will be toxic if burned
• considered a hazard in any way to either you or your neighbours.

You can ask permission for the following items.

• One wall-mounted ceramic, clay or metal plant pot on one side of the front door, securely fixed to the wall with hooks (artificial plants are not allowed).
• Ceramic, clay or metal plant pots placed on the ground, as long as they:
  • do not pose an obstruction to you or your neighbour
  • are kept close to your front door
  • do not hold artificial plants
  • have a plant saucer underneath to retain water so as to not create a slip hazard when watered
  • are not too big a group of pots to cause an obstruction - this will be up to council staff to decide based on assessing the safety of residents. Too many plant pots can also make it difficult for caretakers to clean shared areas.
• One purpose-made doormat, in good condition, non-slip and not be made from offcuts of carpet or similar material. The council reserves the right to refuse permission for doormats if an FRA says they are unsuitable.
• One wall-mounted picture or mirror displayed in a Perspex-fronted metal frame. The frame should take up no more than 45cm of wall space and be positioned at least one metre from any wall edge or corner.

Nothing else is allowed in corridors and communal areas.

Out right to deny permission for items after assessment

Islington Council staff will assess items in the list that are allowed at each home, as outside areas of homes can be different. This might mean that the number of plant pots, size of doormat or picture frame or mirror might not be suitable for everyone.

If Islington Council staff think that items outside a front door are not suitable, we will ask you to remove them. If you don’t do this, we will remove them and throw them away.

Dangerous items to remove immediately

Nothing should be stored in enclosed or substantially enclosed blocks. But you should remove items in this list straight away or as soon as possible because they can be very dangerous fire hazards.

• Chemicals (including paints, varnishes, brush cleaners, turps, petrol, oil, diesel, fertilisers, weed killer and cleaning fluids)
• Barbeques and patio heaters (including fire lighters charcoal and briquettes)
• Liquid petroleum gas (LPG) (including propane / butane and any other compressed highly flammable or volatile gases such as acetylene)
• Car batteries
• DIY materials (including wood, timber, mastics, glues and adhesives)
• Upholstered furniture or fabrics (including padded chairs, armchairs, curtains, net curtains, wall hangings and sections of carpets being used as doormats)
• Candles (including tea lights, incense sticks, lighters and matches).

Petrol vehicles

Petrol vehicles include mopeds, scooters, mowers and other similar fuelled vehicles. If a fuelled vehicle is left in a communal area, Estate Services will attach a seven-day removal notice to the vehicle asking the owner to remove it. We will also investigate the owner for breach of tenancy.

Electric and mobility scooters

E-scooters and mobility scooters should not be charged or stored in communal areas at any time.

The council understands that mobility scooters can improve the quality of life for older or less mobile residents, but storage and charging of these scooters can be a big fire hazard. Storing mobility scooters outside can also be risky because of vandalism, including setting fire to them.

We will send all applications for storage of mobility scooters to the Housing Safety and Compliance team, consult Estates Services on any requests and Tenancy Services are responsible for giving permission in very rare cases.

What happens when we remove items

• Islington Council can remove any item that could be a risk, without telling you beforehand, for the safety of all residents in the block.
• You should dispose of any unwanted items in a safe and responsible way - it is not up to the council to throw away your belongings.
• It is likely that we will remove and dispose of any belongings left in communal areas. You will see warnings about this on electronic notice boards and in other communications with you.
  • Any of the dangerous items list or anything else considered a serious hazard will be removed straight away by a caretaker and an Estates Services Coordinator.
  • If the item is not on the dangerous list, Estate Services will take a photo of it (with date and time stamp) and then try to find the person who owns the items and ask them to remove them.