Safe bike storage problem - advice please

[allehn]

We need to store 2 bikes outside the front of a rented house and need advice on how best to do this please. There is an anchorage point on the side wall of the house but there is no weather protection there and we need the bikes to be undercover. This is in full view from the road unless obscured by cars parked on the drive. A bike shed would be ok if we could anchor it to the wall, which we don't think we can as it's a rented house. So we thought maybe cut a hole in the back of the bike shed for the anchorage loop, then chain the bikes to the loop. This wouldn't prevent theft of the bike shed when it's empty, or damage to the bikes or shed when bikes are chained up in it. We're assuming that a locked plastic bike shed isnt strong enough to prevent theft of unlocked bikes inside. We don't know if a metal one would be, but we would still need to fix it down somehow to prevent it being stolen. We don't know if there are kits available for this.
Does anyone have any better ideas please?
Thank you.
74765

[Jdsk]

Welcome.

There's some useful information in the archives.

Any possibility of storing them inside?

I wouldn't assume that you couldn't bolt a shed to the house: talk to the owners.

What's the ground made of?

Check your insurance coverage as the options develop.

Jonathan

[allehn]

Hi Jonathan, thanks for your reply and insurance tip.
I'll look in the archives.
No, bikes are not allowed inside. We can't even take them through the house to the back garden.
We'll ask if we can fix a shed to the wall but they'll probably say no because we're only to going to be there 1 year, 2 at most, and they won't want ugly holes in the wall. We think the drive is tarmac (we're not living there yet).
Allehn

[PT1029]

Can you elaborate in " There is an anchorage point on the side wall of the house"? - is there space for a covered bike shelter to be locked to the anchor on the side wall?
I assume from what you say there is no side access to a (more) secure back yard/garden?
If you were able to post a street view photo of the house it will make it easier for people to offer advice (though you might like to paste over any reference to the address/location - I might not be as honest as I (hopefully) appear!).

When I was younger there was a spate of lawn mower thefts from sheds/garages, my Dad put a plastic pipe through a bucket (half way up) and filled the bucket with cement. He then put a chunky chain through the pipe so the mower was locked to a bucket of cement. Not 100%, but makes it harder to take it away. I still have that lump of concrete, much to my wife's irritation!

[Paulatic]

I think I’d go with your plan to use a shed with a hole cut into the side.
The shed's purpose is to hide from sight and keep the weather off. Security chain from anchor through side of shed. Perhaps even an audible alarm on the shed door? You can then take the shed with you when you move again.

[mjr]

No, bikes are not allowed inside. We can't even take them through the house to the back garden.

Why not? What does the tenancy agreement actually say?

Even if it does really say all bikes are totally banned, if the term is there for no good reason, it will be unenforceable because it violates the tenants' right to quiet enjoyment, as https://landlordlawblog.co.uk/2014/09/1 ... s-indoors/ and many other pages hint. In the version of the guidance that applied when I last rented, government said "4.51 We object to terms in tenancy agreements that impose obligations or restrictions that are or can be wholly unreasonable" and I am fairly confident blanket bike bans fall under that. Table 4.2 listing examples says landlords cannot even blanket-ban inflammatory materials or pets, which both pose a far greater risk to the landlord's property!

My understanding is that landlords can prohibit storing bikes in corridors or other places that obstruct common access or fire escapes, but they cannot normally stop you putting a waterproof (and oilproof!) sheet down and sacrificing a bedroom to bike storage, and I am fairly sure that a ban on taking them through to the back garden would be impossible.

They may not like it, but them and their agents have to warn you they're coming, so you can move the bikes elsewhere for their visit... and of course, if you dirty or dent a wall, expect to make it good or pay for it later.

That said, thefts from back gardens are one of the most common ways to lose a bike, so if you do that, still anchor the bikes well, and a shed with bikes somehow secured to the front wall anchor may be the best answer anyway. You could try to present it to the landlord as a benefit for future tenants if they buy it from you secondhand when you leave... but as it's visible from outside the front, you can't easily install a bike shed if they say no. Also, local planning policies may restrict installation of a shed at the front.

I've lived in rented accommodation where we stored bikes in a spare room and another where we motorcycle-chained them under a tie-down cover to an anchor point on the front wall. I'm pretty sure the "spare room" place's tenancy agreement included many unfair terms but I don't remember if a bike ban was one. The landlord there had completely failed to provide secure bike storage, as one of ours was stolen from their substandard shed (wheelbenders in an unlockable shed hidden by the bins in a secluded back corner of the site) and they still took no action to secure it.

Good luck!

[mjr]

If you do take it inside, you may find something like the Velo Sock (currently out of stock) useful, but cheaper alternatives like the aforementioned waterproof sheet are available. Maybe the Cycling UK transport polythene bike bag might be strong enough, or maybe it will puncture too easily. And I guess storing a wet bike sealed up is a bad idea.

[Psamathe]

No, bikes are not allowed inside. We can't even take them through the house to the back garden.

Why not? What does the tenancy agreement actually say?

Even if it does really say all bikes are totally banned, if the term is there for no good reason, it will be unenforceable because it violates the tenants' right to quiet enjoyment, as https://landlordlawblog.co.uk/2014/09/1 ... s-indoors/ and many other pages hint. In the version of the guidance that applied when I last rented, government said "4.51 We object to terms in tenancy agreements that impose obligations or restrictions that are or can be wholly unreasonable" and I am fairly confident blanket bike bans fall under that. Table 4.2 listing examples says landlords cannot even blanket-ban inflammatory materials or pets, which both pose a far greater risk to the landlord's property!

My understanding is that landlords can prohibit storing bikes in corridors or other places that obstruct common access or fire escapes, but they cannot normally stop you putting a waterproof (and oilproof!) sheet down and sacrificing a bedroom to bike storage, and I am fairly sure that a ban on taking them through to the back garden would be impossible.

They may not like it, but them and their agents have to warn you they're coming, so you can move the bikes elsewhere for their visit... and of course, if you dirty or dent a wall, expect to make it good or pay for it later.
...

Plus, if that is the attitude of your landlord, are they to be trusted long term. (Although I own my own home) I tend to regard renting and tenancy as something that should operate as a cooperative thing where landlord trusts you not to trash the place and you trust landlord to ensure e.g. safe gas/electric, etc.. Imposing silly rules that serve no purpose does not suggest a cooperative relationship.

If your carrying bike through damages the property then fair enough you should be liable but that is what deposits are for.

Ian

[thirdcrank]

AIUI you are considering metal sheds and if so I'd suggest looking at Asgard, whose products have been mentioned a few times on here before. Hardly cheap but solid and with afaik a good reputation. I've inspected some of their outdoor storage at a local primary school and it looks good to me. I've no connection but I would say the firm has been around a while now and with premises in that part of Bradford, they are unlikely to have any bourgeois ideas about what's reasonably secure

https://www.asgardsss.co.uk/

IMO a wooden shed's use is limited to hiding what's inside and helping keep the weather out

[rogerzilla]

This is one of those situations where a Brompton looks attractive. I know someone with a compact and bijou flat who has one solely for easy home storage.

[Jamesh]

This is one of those situations where a Brompton looks attractive. I know someone with a compact and bijou flat who has one solely for easy home storage.

Other folding bikes are available.

One of my clients has a tern whilst another a carrera intercity.

Both do the job...

[gaz]

With a metal shed I'd be tempted to loop the hoop of a D-lock through the wall anchor, pass that through two holes in the shed and then lock it. Shed secured to the wall anchor by the D-lock, with the D-lock providing a fresh anchor point inside.

May not be worth the effort with a plastic shed although you could possibly reinforce the section within the D-lock.

[Winders]

Have a look at a bike tent as a way of providing cover from the weather over the existing anchor at the side of the house. You don’t have to fix it to the wall, but a couple of rawlplugs in the mortar lines is unlikely to be noticed by the landlord.

[Stradageek]

This is one of those situations where a Brompton looks attractive. I know someone with a compact and bijou flat who has one solely for easy home storage.

Though I like Bromptons and admire the fold and British workmanship the 'storage in a flat/bedsit/shared house' issue was solved in 2003 by the legendary Mike Burrows - and ignored

The bike in question was called a 2D. Mike figured out that storage in a flat required a bike that was light, smallish and THIN. So the 2D has a carbon fibre frame with integral chain case, 20" wheels, monoblade forks, drum brakes and folding pedals and handlebars. The bike then folds flat against the wall being less than a handful of inches wide.

Another brilliant idea gone to waste

[rogerzilla]

It probably cost £10,000, though!