tenant changing the locks - wrong?

Turnbull2000

The police are generally either a) not clued up on tenancy laws b) BTLer themselves and side with other landlords

HellsGranny

There is an insurance point here. If the tenant applies for insurance there should not be any locks allowing outsiders (even the landlord) in as the insurance company would say you haven't secured the property.

Lock barrels can be changed, as long as the originals are reinstated at the end of the lease.

The landlord should not just turn up, he is supposed to give at least 24 hours notice of his intention to visit/inspect his property.

You are entitled to quiet enjoyment of the place you call home, even if it belongs to someone else.

Cheers, HG

cran81

marliepanda wrote: »

None of this makes any sense, and honestly I don't believe it. A convenient call to the sister to save you going to jail.

The police would not have charged you with anything as there is nothing to charge you with.

This only serves to scare people from taking correct advice. Either secure yourself in your home or stop complaining when it all goes wrong. You didn't have to 'call the police' if the locks were changed.

It's these kind of responses that you don't need.
I changed the locks following advice from here. I also stated in my previous post that the contract says that you are not supposed to - why I said it would defeat the purpose if you had to give your landlord the keys.
I told my sister what I had done and she said that I had been wrong to. Not everyone has day to day confrontations with people, police, etc and some of us just plod along, perhaps ignorantly. She suggested double locking the door - where you put the switch down.
I called the police as landlord was still at my door and still trying to come in. Like I really am just going to sit there waiting for someone to bust the door down.
I called the police thinking I was in the right to do so.
The police said ' it would have been a criminal offence if you had changed the locks' They even went to the effort of TRYING the landlords keys.

As I have mentioned in my previous posts I am extremely grateful for people replying. I'm not for one second suggesting that anyone is wrong in the advice they give. BUT, I don't think it's wrong to seek clarification. So, either the police were wrong and scaring me wrongly and you can change the locks or you can't.

Not everybody agrees on these posts - I don't think it's a problem just to seek clarification.

And marliepanda - I honestly couldn't care less whether you believe me or not. You may be one of those people who has time to make up stories but some of us don't. I wanted to post on here to let people know what happened and what trouble following advice would have gotten me into. I'm unclear where the 'complaining' was in the post.

Once again - thank you everyone else for responding - again!

BitterAndTwisted

Or c): make !!!!!! up as they go along.

OP: IT IS NOT a criminal offence to deny your landlord access when he's standing on the doorstep when you have already told him that you are unwilling to give him access or to change the locks as long as you swap them back when you vacate.

Stop listening to relatives who know sod-all about anything and do not rely on the police to understand or care about civil law.

Deny your landlord access and do it IN WRITING asap. Then change the bloody barrel back and leave it like that until you leave. Or you could risk the landlord turning up, chucking your stuff out on the street and locking you out of your home.

nikki1520

I think the point the police were pursuing is the one where you cannot deny access to a person who is entitled to enter the property - for example, if I decided to change the locks so my husband couldn't get in, that would be illegal, as he is named on the title deed and so has the right to enter the property. However, tenants rights give the right to quiret enjoyment, which overrides this, and this is the bit the police aren't clued up on.

Basically if you rent a home, it is yours, for your sole and exclusive enjoyment, and if you have a landlord who will let himself in will-he nill-he, then the only way to ensure your quiet enjoyment is to change the lock barrel. Even if you're not paying the rent, the landlord cannot let himself in, except in the direst emergency - eg a gas leak while you're on holiday

RuthnJasper

If it's any help, when I signed my tenancy agreement with my landlord (a Housing Association) they gave me ALL of the keys. As this was the first time of living by myself, I was a bit taken aback and said "Don't you need to keep a spare key?"

The officer said no, that they don't keep any keys, the tenants are responsible for the keys, not the landlords. This was borne out recently when one of my neighbours lost his keys - there wasn't anything the HA could do - the neighbour had to sort out and pay for a locksmith by himself.

cran81

Thank you. It's just crazy when the police take the side of the landlord because it's his property. That doesn't help me.

I wasn't trying to be a pain the backside with this post, but just trying to point out that sometimes when you believe that you're in the right the police could come along and through their ignorance you're in trouble.

I will change the locks and take it from there. If landlord calls police next time let's hope they will know it's a civil matter LOL.

I have gone through various threads on this board to know which peoples' advice is worth following. Gosh I hope you don't work for CAB marliepanda. 'I don't believe you have a problem... it sounds fishy to me...go away...'

picklepick

If you want to check your rights OP call Shelter. It helps when the police are involved with cases like this to know what they are but I agree with everyone else that you can change the locks as long as you change them back when you leave. You are entitled to quiet enjoyment of your rental.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/how_we_can_help/housing_advice_helpline

princeofpounds

I'm with everyone else on this. Your sister doesn't know what she is talking about, and neither do the police who attended.

It is unfortunately far too common for the police to be mistaken because they are not trained on civil issues like this. Furthermore, they often either try to inappropriately apply what knowledge they do have (such as it being an offence to lock out an owner-occupier) or just pick a path that is most likely to prevent escalation of tension.

You should have left the locks in place, and if the police had done anything like arresting you then you should have asked them I what grounds. You should also have asked with the desk sergeant. Then you contact your lawyer and they would have you out in short order, probably with an apology and maybe even compensation.

Furthermore, you should consider complaining in writing about the conduct of these police and request they be better trained. The response might mean that they behave more properly next time.

princeofpounds

For further discussion, read this:

http://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2011/03/07/tenants-legal-help-when-the-police-unjustly-support-your-landlord/

http://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2010/07/13/locks-and-keys-–-what-are-tenants-rights/

And this (written by a well-known tenancy lawyer)

http://www.yell.com/solicitors/blog/are-tenants-allowed-to-change-the-locks/

And this (which is about the police and illegal eviction, showing how often they don't have a clue and even end up assisting criminal acts on occasion)

http://nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/2010/07/illegal-eviction-and-the-police/

And grow a backbone.