Landlord, land registry and keys

moneysavinmonkey

paintpot wrote: »

He may be fitting locks where there is a masterkey system, i.e the two sets of tenants are issued with different sets of keys but the landlord has a master key which fits both. Landlords with lots of properties often use this type of system for ease. It might be worth enquiring with your landlord as to whether this is the case as you MAY have the wrong end of the sick.


HTH

Paintpot's suggestion sounds much more probable, as others have said it's not really in the landlords interests to make his properties less secure in they way you have described.

To your original question, landregistry data lets you look up a particular property and find out who owns it. I'm not sure that you can do it the other way around (ie look up the person and find out what property they own) it can be done other ways but it's not as easy as you think so you shouldn't be overly concerned.

zebulon

paintpot wrote: »

He may be fitting locks where there is a masterkey system, i.e the two sets of tenants are issued with different sets of keys but the landlord has a master key which fits both. Landlords with lots of properties often use this type of system for ease. It might be worth enquiring with your landlord as to whether this is the case as you MAY have the wrong end of the sick.

HTH

I really do hope this is the case, because I personally find this SHOCKING!
:mad: :mad:

...... I suppose at least he's honest to tell you!

the good point with changing the locks is if many tenants before you made duplicates of keys they could have kept...

poppysarah

I'd change the lock. He's got to ask permission to come in anyway and give you notice and if there's an emergnecy which means he needs to get in then breaking in is what the fire brigade would do anyway. And what are the odds of an emergency and the landlord was handily outside with a set of keys?
If your house was on fire the FB would not wait for someone to come along with a key.

Your home your locks. You ask the contents insurance what they think about an unknown number of keys being available for your property.

clutton_2

you cannot find out from the usual landregistry searches how many properties an individual owns

why are folks getting their knickers in such a twist here - if this is the type of lock suggested, then tenants Cannot use them in another lock - only the LL can. i switch locks from one house to another when tenants change, so that old tenants cannot get back into their old home, and i dont have to keep on buying new locks.

i am sure that tenants who find they have "locked themselves out" will be happy for a LL to have a spare set - rather than paying £150 + VAT for an emergency callout to a locksmith to get them back in again

DawnW

My tenant lost her keys recently. As Clutton pointed out, she was very pleased to not have a locksmith to pay out for, and it was much, much cheaper for her to get a new set of keys cut from mine, than go to all expense of getting new locks fitted all round - front door, back door, conservatory etc (or alternatively have me pay upfront and then deduct from her deposit if she preferred it that way). I am sorry if people disagree, but it is my property and I certainly think it within my rights to have a set of keys. My tenants have never questioned this. And I would never dream of entering the property unless invited / by arrangement!

Icey77

clutton wrote: »

i am sure that tenants who find they have "locked themselves out" will be happy for a LL to have a spare set - rather than paying £150 + VAT for an emergency callout to a locksmith to get them back in again

This is my thinking behind having a spare key to my flat that is let out - the LA has a spare but is not available outside office hours. I live less that 5 minutes drive away and would be happy to nip over and let my tenents in if they had locked themselves out ... we've all done it!

I would NEVER even consider letting myself in without the tenants being present - I could be leaving myself wide open to all sorts of accusations!

Also, when they move out I will purchase a new tumbler/lock and fit it so that any previous keys floating about can't be used to gain access. If I have multiple locks I can interchange them between tenants so that copies of keys should not present a security issue.

morg_monster

I'm very glad that our letting agency has a copy of our keys, held securely. It means that they can arrange for things to be repaired, replaced, etc without me or the OH having to take time off work. Personally that works really well for us though I'm sure some of their tenants are less trusting. Also an added bonus for us is that the branch we rent from is about 30 seconds walk from our house, so if I get home and find I've forgotten my keys, I can borrow their set (leaving a credit card as security) and let myself in. I don't know if our LL also has a key but he lives in portugal so I'm not too worried about that!

lynzpower

moneysavinmonkey wrote: »

Paintpot's suggestion sounds much more probable, as others have said it's not really in the landlords interests to make his properties less secure in they way you have described.

To your original question, landregistry data lets you look up a particular property and find out who owns it. I'm not sure that you can do it the other way around (ie look up the person and find out what property they own) it can be done other ways but it's not as easy as you think so you shouldn't be overly concerned.

but anyone with experience of these sort of key sets will know that they are very difficult to get cut and copied.

Ive been known to pay 25-35 quid for a replacement key for one of these type of locks. they can be quite specialist ( ie most village locksmiths wont do them)