Bicycle on landing arrange to have them removed

Wall mount the bike.

You can get quite cunning storing bikes, I found a good dead spot behind my door, which could be used if the bike is held vertically (i.e. on it's back wheel) - it balances well in that position too, so hardly needs any force to hold it up. Built a frame to hold it out of the remains of a wardrobe someone was throwing out. This time I'm getting a Clug http://www.getclug.com/ which does the job really neatly (when it turns up...they're a new ex-kickstarter company and I think they're having a bit of fun with mass production)

Move the bike but make sure you leave a rusty old lock attached to the fence - just to give them the finger.

Quote:

I have no space to keep the bikes in flat and there is no secure, sheltered bicycle parking anywhere on the estate so moving them isn't really an option.

There's *always* space!
When I was at uni I was in study-bedrooms - first year in uni halls of res, following years in uni-owned houses, they were never very big rooms. I managed to keep both a road bike and an MTB in there. One room had the road bike under the desk (wheels off, they went under the bed) and the MTB standing on its rear wheel at the end of the bed with the front wheel toe-strapped to the vertical water pipe running down the wall to hold it all in place. All I had to do was shift it when they inspected the room - no big deal since they always told you a week in advance when that would be!

Bit of a faff and it meant always cleaning the bike after a ride but better than any alternative.

but an old van and park it outside, it doesn't have to be a runner. just make sure the alarms are good!

A friend in Leeds wound up in an identical situation i.e. small flat, no secure cycle storage. As she had a Juliet balcony I told her to hang the cycle from it.

Sure enough the council objected to that as well [on aesthetic grounds]. After much too-ing and fro-ing the council installed secure cycle lockers outside the building.

You just have to think outside the box and be stubborn.

My office building had a strict "no bikes in communal areas" rule. One of the office tenants left a bike in the main lobby and nobody knew who it belonged to so it got confiscated, and a note left on the lobby noticeboard saying that it had been impounded, so please come forward and claim it (there was no charge to get it back, they just had to put their head above the parapet and claim ownership). Nobody ever did. Three or four years later, it got donated to a local not-for-profit bike repair place, to go to a new home.

Not sure of the relevance of that anecdote, actually...

You say you've no room to store bikes indoors Mr Big, but if you are imaginative you will find a way to keep them safe without falling over them.
What about a couple of those cheap pulley gizmos for hoisting them up to the ceiling? Or vertical storage racks, some of which are beautiful to behold?

Not sure what the question was, but the answer's Brompton .....

Fire crews not only might have to crawl, they more than likely will be dragging a hose of sufficient length to reach all parts of the affected flat as well. The last thing they would want is for the loops of their hose getting caught around your bike. Fire regulations are there for a reason.

My bikes live indoors anyway. Security, innit.

It's normal, fire regulations and building insurance. Enforcement is generally zero tolerance, as it's for the benefit of fire crews who ultimately might need to crawl through those spaces wearing respirators and no visibility.

Are there any self storage places nearby, or could you approach anyone with a garage to see if they'd sublet you some space?

It'll be a condition of your lease/tenancy that you do not obstruct the common parts of the building, so it's no surprise that a notice such as this has been issued if you're keeping bikes in this area. You are effectively in breach of your agreement and continuing to do so can ultimately result in you being evicted.

As has broadly been set out above, it's irrelevant if you think you're not doing any harm, access could be needed for all manner of reasons which are not apparent to you, not least in the event of emergency. There's no particular obligation for the local authority to provide alternative bicycle parking either, although all new developments will generally be required to have some form of secure bicycle parking for residents under the planning regime.

Sorry to say it, but it'll be a case of keeping the bikes in the flat from now on. This is said from many years experience of mine as a conveyancer, most recently with a major UK housebuilder. We find the problem is generally either with bikes or buggies, but there's no alternative but to take enforcement action given the potential legal liability that will attach to the landlord as a consequence.

We had that problem with the chap upstairs. He simply took away his bike until they inspected then put it back.

Otherwise, keep it inside, it will be safer. Compromises have to be made... I've got 3 behind the sofa...

The first thing to do is to read carefully the terms of your rental agreement (or lease if you are the leaseholder). They probably have and so you might as well know where you stand legally.
The second bit of advice I'd give is that in the short term you probably need to comply with their request (assuming that request is legal and you are breaking the T&Cs). That in NO WAY stops you fighting them! But if you knowingly continue to break whatever agreement you have with the property owners you will put yourself in a worse situation.
They'll probably just come along and chop any locks you might have and if it is a private contractor involved they could add insult to injury by sending you the bill. Refuse to pay and you then go to court and so on. Don't go there !
The next step would be to contact the council directly (or the housing association) and find out WHY the bikes need to be removed. The guys serving the notices are probably just private contractors and won't give a s**t about you or your problems - they're being paid to do a job and they'll just do it even if they have to use an angle grinder. For which they'll probably bill you! So talk to the council housing department. You could also try your local Citizens Advice Bureau.
FWIW my guess is that it's fire Regs - or more strictly the fire risk assessment that the property owner will need to have carried out. And in that case I suspect you won't get very far. But try and find out the why - only then will you be able to mount a counter-argument. It would also be worth nipping out with a camera and recording the current state of all the other stairwells. Are they are all perfectly clear ? Or are there lots of other people in the same position as yourself. Find out if they've been served similar notices. If after all that you still want help update the post with the situation. Although you might find posting on a CAB or tenants-rights forum just as fruitful (just pretend it's pot plants - don't mention you're cyclists on a non-cycling forum ).