Tenant putting locks on internal door?

captainpants

when i say my car i mean take it in my car to my house while she is away. d'oh.

kmmr

captainpants wrote: »

The girl has apparently told the agent separately that she may be leaving and my friend is a little worried she might do a runner in her absence. Not going away is not an option for my friend so no 'helpful' comments about how she should cancel her trip if she's that worried.

Please let me know any rights my friend might have in putting a lock on her door. My inclination would be to put the lock on the door and just accept part loss of deposit when moving (it's a new tenancy so she's there for at least another 6 months).

Thoughts?

My thoughts are that when you ask for free advice from people, it pays to be polite and not rudely pre-empt peoples 'helpful' advice that may not be to your taste. Just in case my thoughts are not 'helpful' I'll not trouble you with advice.

captainpants

kmmr - thank you for demonstrating exactly why i needed to put that caveat in there.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

she could fit one of these, which doesn't damage door, though maybe a bit expensive for peace of mind.

Fitting instructions.

captainpants

thanks frugalmacdugal. I'll pass it on to her.

fivetide

pinkshoes wrote: »

The agency should never know what she does to the door, as they shouldn't be entering the property.

I'd have thought the agency could well be doign regular inspections on behalf of the landlord to make sure it is all going well.

I am also sure i read something about a permanent lock or at least a lock which can be closed from the outside changing the tenency as at the moment they are just renting a flat and sharing the costs (I assume) having a lock is more akin to renting a room within a flat if that makes sense? Sure someone can confirm.

Does she have anyone who fancies a 'flat watch' for a few days?

paddyrg

Remove the door handle? Not perfect, but will slow down a casual intrusion

captainpants

Fivetide - Unfortunately I can't flatwatch due to my schedule but I live closest to her so it's easy for me to colelct her stuff. And to be honest I don't really want to be around the other flatmate. It might be good for both of them to have distance for a few days - who knows, it might diffuse the tension a bit. Drama. Ah well.

Thanks to all who responded.

zzzLazyDaisy

You can get heavy brass lockable door chains from most hardware shops like this one

http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/221139183949?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&adtype=pla

They act like a normal door chain when the person is in the room. When you leave the room you leave the ball end in the slider and push the other end into the slot from the outside and close the door. Coming back you need to unlock the chain to get back in. Sounds complicated but it isn't.

Of course someone really determined could get some heavy duty cutters and cut through the chain, but it wouldn't be easy. It doesn't leave much of a mark on the door, just a few screw holes which are easily filled but to be honest, I'd probably just leave the chain on the door.

Fire_Fox

Could you randomly turn up at the property a couple of times 'to collect something'? Check the room is not being used, most likely to catch them if you show up well before midday. But please do consider fire safety with whatever security method you try: at the very least check all the fire alarms are working, maybe even add an extra one they are cheap enough.