Stefanie (35) Tak from Eindhoven is very disappointed. She is no longer allowed to leave the pram for her baby in the hall of the porch flat due to fire safety. She was told by the lessor Woonbedrijf. The single mother lives three high and there is no lift. Due to an illness, she has a balance disorder. According to her, wearing a baby and also wearing a stroller is impossible. She hopes that the landlord will come up with a solution.
From July 1 last year, the government introduced stricter rules. It states what may or may not be in the common space of residential buildings. It is about things that block escape route or can catch fire.
Stefanie feels ‘locked up’ in her own flat. “As soon as this rule is really going to be maintained, my son and I are literally stuck in our home. I have no car and I am dependent on his car to be able to go outside with him.”
Woonbedrijf says that several tenants have responded to the tightened rules. From residents who conclude that it is not yet in order in their complex and ask to take action. As tenants who do not agree with the new rules because ‘the cosiness is disappearing’.
“They want me to put the car in the basement because of the fire safety. It is only accessible with a staircase.”
Stefanie from Woonbedrijf already received a note twice. Then an employee came to her home for a conversation. And in the end she received an email stating that the stroller should really disappear from the central hall. It was also recommended to think about home exchange. She must arrange that herself.
The residential company says it wants to look at a possible solution and that has already been a conversation about it. “In this specific case we are already in contact with the resident about this. There will also be a walk -in in the building where Mrs. Lives. She knows about it and is also invited to continue to discuss with us.”
“They require me to put the car in the basement because of the fire safety. It is only accessible with a staircase. I can’t go down the stairs with the car and my son,” says Stefanie. That has everything to do with her disease benign paroxysmal position dizziness (BPPD). “I have a balance disorder. I can occasionally get dizzy in one go. So I am very careful on the stairs anyway.”
A bag with diapers hangs around her shoulder. Her son is in a baby carrier. This way they go down the stairs. Stefanie holds the handrail firmly with one hand. “If they want me that I also take a car with me, I just don’t have any hands free to hold myself well.”
She was told by others that she then had to put her baby in the box or in his bed for so long. Then she can pick up the pram in the basement and put it in the hall. “But at that moment there are four floors between my son and me. The baby monitor has no reach anyway. And I am not immediately up when something happens.”
Leaving her son alone and not being able to hear him, she finds too dangerous. “He is rolling. He is already turning off. He can end up with his face on the floor and if he is tired no longer push himself up. An accident is in a very small corner. A bouncer is also not possible. If he is going well, he is over. “
Stefanie is angry and she doesn’t really know what to do anymore. “I am standing with my back against the wall.” She now just leaves the pram, until Woonbedrijf starts to maintain. She is afraid of a fine. “It sometimes happens that we have to go up and down three times and then you are constantly lugging. Soon I will no longer be able to go outside with my son.”
She hopes that the residential company will think about a solution. For example, at another porch flat she saw a box outside for someone with an electric scooter. “They built that there to be able to charge it outside.”
Or she hopes, for example, that there will be an exception for people who already live there and have to use a stroller. But resting she is not on it. “I’m just responding to houses.”
