Ah, you know it's funny, you'd be one of the people who go to sleep. They think everything's fine, everything's good. They wake up the next day and they're on fire.

As someone who lived in basements for years I find that highly unlikely. I was always under the impression that kind of thing only mattered for purposes of selling/renting laws and foster children. I wonder what situation they are in that people are telling them where to sleep.

And that's what freedom is. Being able to make that decision for yourself and not at the point of the government's gun

They're European. That could be a factor

Lostmongoose, I highly recommending searching YouTube for "GI Joe Fire Alarm" which should be about 27 seconds. And then "GI Joe Porkchop Sandwiches" depending on what you think of the first video.

There is a minimum size for egress windows for any basement bedroom window. This is so that there are 2 ways out in case the stairs are compromised.

Even if you own your home and don't have any of those restrictions, the logic is that since basements usually only have one exit which can be dangerous in a fire if it's blocked by flames. I personally don't understand why it's a big deal. If someone owns the home I think they should be able to live in it as they please and accept the risks as long as it's only a threat to the immediate household.

The government actually can't tell you where to sleep. Not in the Netherlands and not if you own a house. This is very likely a rental place, which has probably had complaints about the safety. If someone rents out an apartment, those apartments are required to be safe (you really wouldn't want to rent a place that isn't, would you). So, if someone complained about it, they inspect the entire building and present the report to the owner. He better be quick to fix the issues, quite hefty fines there. That is, if he doesn't want to lose that source of income.

Bingo, we rent it. A few years ago a student house burned down (no fatalities, but a couple of serious injuries), so the municipality decided to check all student housing to see if they conformed to safety regulations. It's logical in hindsight that sleeping there isn't the smartest thing to do, but it was presented to us as a bedroom when we first rented it three years ago, and the previous occupant had done the same.