Bikes and scooters in the hallway: where they go, and the battery problem

In five years, entrance halls have filled up with bicycles and electric scooters. It is a new conflict, and almost no building has rules for it.

Can they be left in the hallway?

The hallway, the landing and the stairs are common circulation areas. Nobody has the right to occupy them permanently with their own belongings, however neatly parked. And there is a reason that outweighs tidiness: they are escape routes. A corridor with three bikes across it is a problem on the day of the fire.

That said, banning it outright with no alternative usually ends in everyone ignoring the ban. The solution that works is agreeing a specific place at the meeting: a corner of the garage, the space under the stairs, a disused room, with racks if needed.

What the meeting can agree

• Setting aside and signposting a parking area for bikes and scooters.
• Banning them from landings, stairs and emergency exits — this one is not up for debate.
• Allocating spaces if they are limited, and how.
• Banning battery charging in common areas.

A simple majority is enough for an internal rule of this kind.

Batteries: the serious part

The lithium batteries in scooters and e-bikes cause a growing number of fires, and they burn in a way that is especially hard to put out. Charging them unattended in a storeroom, a closed garage or a common room is precisely the worst possible scenario.

Many communities have already banned it expressly, and some insurance policies are starting to ask about it. Two things worth checking: what your policy says, and whether the garage has fire detection.

The conversation worth having

This is not about hounding the neighbour who cycles. It is about the building having a proper place for something that is already here and growing. The community that sorts it out by agreement avoids the conflict; the one that ignores it ends up with a cluttered hallway and a scare.