Furniture in large B&B hallway that is a fire escape route?

[Guest AndyPaint]

I have a question about hallway furniture for a B&B - this is a B&B that the host also lives in (not sure that makes any difference though). We have quite a large hall, which is part of the fire escape route for the two bedrooms that we want to use for B&B rooms. The hall is 2.45m x 3.25m, with the front door on one of the shorter edges and a coat cupboard, that is an alcove without a door at the other end. The stairs to the upstairs B&B room is to one side along one of the long walls (not included in my sizes) and the bottom of the stairs are next to the front door, so the upstairs guest doesn't have to escape through the hallway, just down the stairs and out the door. But the door to the downstairs B&B is at the other end of the stairs, and that person needs to go through the hallway to escape fire. The stairs and hallway are all 30 minute fire protected by walls and fire doors to the rooms.

I am finding conflicting information online on whether and what furniture and or storage I can have in the hall, and whether the coat cupboard/alcove is even permissible. Or a hall rug etc. It's a really large area that looks very unwelcoming without any furniture in it at all. And there is a lack of storage elsewhere in the house,  particularly in the B&B rooms which are quite small, for things like spare blankets and towels etc. Previously (many many years ago when we did B&B before changes in the rules) we had an antique sideboard along the long wall of the hall with a few spare bits in that guests can access themselves, and a console table on the other side with a few local information leaflets, takeaway menus etc, and a guest book.

Am I right in understanding that the new fire regs mean that I can't have any furniture or storage at all in this space? Or am I mis-interpreting? With the sideboard and a small console table the 'corridor' between these is 156cm wide. There are no fire hazards in the hall - there is a socket but it is currently not used for anything and can be covered/disconnected if its an issue. If I am not permitted furniture can I use this for a floor lamp to lessen the dismalness of the space? Or is that also not permitted?

I have read the government guidance, which suggests you can't put anything in this space, but elsewhere I have found fire guidance that says you can a long as it meets fire safety requirements - but I can't find anything on exactly what that means (antique hardwood is very hard to set fire to - but not officially fire rated of course). I'm also not sure what the situation is re the coat hanging space/alcove. Can guests still put coats in there - or does it have to be completely empty?

 

[AnthonyB]

Hardwood does have a degree of natural fire resistance due to it's density and it can be further treated to give more measurable fire resistance. Spare linen in a cupboard that opened onto the stair would be acceptable if there was a fire door on it - by extension if the sideboard was of suitable fire resistance and not an obstruction you could argue it would be OK - that's the point of risk assessment (That doesn't mean it would be accepted depending on the opinions of the individual fire safety inspecting officer).