Locked out of home, rented accommodation, whose responsibility?

urgggh

Hi everybody, I went home last night to find that the padlock on my gate was bust. It's a big, wrought iron monstrosity between 2 shops and is my only way in and out of my home (I live above one of the shops)

Luckily, I have a boyfriend so I stayed at his last night, but, y'know, I still wanna get into my house. I called 4 emergency locksmiths last night but only one of them answered their phone. He said it was gonna cost £75 (not sure if that was just the callout fee) so I said I'd get the landlord to deal with it in the morning.

I called the letting agent today (they don't have a 24 hour service -they've only just started opening on Saturdays, and that's only for half the day) and they were umm-ing an ah-ing, saying, "oh, we won't be able to get anybody out today" so I'm thinking... when? Tomorrow (Sunday)? Monday (Christmas Eve)? Tuesday (Christmas Day)? Wednesday (Boxing Day)?

So what do I do? I can't break the lock. I can't just not go home at all over the entire festive period (for one thing, I haven't delivered my Christmas presents yet and they're all stuck at home)

My landlord/ letting agent is really bad. I've had problems with rats, ceiling collapses, water pouring in through the ceiling and most recently sewage coming up through the drains. They're really useless and don't wanna take responsibility for anything. Can I just call out an emergency locksmith or something and send them the bill? Would I be within my rights to deduct it from my rent?

Please help!

nickj_2

urgggh wrote: »

Hi everybody, I went home last night to find that the padlock on my gate was bust. It's a big, wrought iron monstrosity between 2 shops and is my only way in and out of my home (I live above one of the shops)

Luckily, I have a boyfriend so I stayed at his last night, but, y'know, I still wanna get into my house. I called 4 emergency locksmiths last night but only one of them answered their phone. He said it was gonna cost £75 (not sure if that was just the callout fee) so I said I'd get the landlord to deal with it in the morning.

I called the letting agent today (they don't have a 24 hour service -they've only just started opening on Saturdays, and that's only for half the day) and they were umm-ing an ah-ing, saying, "oh, we won't be able to get anybody out today" so I'm thinking... when? Tomorrow (Sunday)? Monday (Christmas Eve)? Tuesday (Christmas Day)? Wednesday (Boxing Day)?

So what do I do? I can't break the lock. I can't just not go home at all over the entire festive period (for one thing, I haven't delivered my Christmas presents yet and they're all stuck at home)

My landlord/ letting agent is really bad. I've had problems with rats, ceiling collapses, water pouring in through the ceiling and most recently sewage coming up through the drains. They're really useless and don't wanna take responsibility for anything. Can I just call out an emergency locksmith or something and send them the bill? Would I be within my rights to deduct it from my rent?
Please help!

i personally wouldn't be paying them anything to live in a property like that , i would start looking for somewhere else asap ,
as for the lock ,is it actually bust or has it just got stuck , if so a blast of wd40 may help ease it , if not, you may be able to get a hammer and give the lock a whack from the top , if you're lucky it may pop ,

phill99

Do not deduct costs from your rent. You will open up a can of worms.

ljonski

I would get a new padlock about the same size. Then hacksaw the original off , and put the new one one and send them the bill (including time spent) and then move.

Waterlily24

ljonski wrote: »

I would get a new padlock about the same size. Then hacksaw the original off , and put the new one one and send them the bill (including time spent) and then move.

I think it depends on what sort of padlock it is, I don't think a hacksaw would work on many.

Leif

Waterlily24 wrote: »

I think it depends on what sort of padlock it is, I don't think a hacksaw would work on many.

An angle grinder would do it. I wonder if the OP can borrow one (and some protective glasses and gloves). It could be interesting if a porta-plod drove by.

ilikewatch

I would rent a big set of bolt croppers, cut the old lock off, replace it and bill the landlord. If you had to HSS will rent a suitable pair of bolt croppers for about £14 a day, but a local hire shop will probably rent them for an hour or two for a fiver or so.

dacouch

ilikewatch wrote: »

I would rent a big set of bolt croppers, cut the old lock off, replace it and bill the landlord. If you had to HSS will rent a suitable pair of bolt croppers for about £14 a day, but a local hire shop will probably rent them for an hour or two for a fiver or so.

The only problem with Bolt Croppers is that they make you realise how vulnerable a normal padlock is.

Immensely enjoyable though using Bolt Cutters

urgggh

Thanks for the replies guys. I called the landlord and actually got a call back for once! They hired a locksmith to come and deal with it and gave me his number. Alas, I'm still waiting for him (not stood outside in all this rain, thankfully) but last time I spoke to him he said he'd definitely come and he sounded pretty genuine. It's getting close to 5 o'clock though so I honestly don't know whether I'll be able to go home tonight. I definitely need to move but I'm super-poor and this place is pretty much all I can afford without moving into shared accommodation (which I just cannot do)

blossomhill_2

Sorry to hear this OP, I hope it is resolved now

A couple of thoughts - is a padlocked gate, that has been proved to be capable of getting jammed, your only exit if there were (heaven forbid) to be a fire? Do you have a fire escape window?

If the locksmith doesn't materialise it may be worth having a word with the police via dialing 101, as they know on-call locksmiths

urgggh

Thanks Blossom, I've got the problem fixed now. Well, partly. They said they'd bring copies of the keys to the new lock today and now they're saying tomorrow instead, so I don't have a key to my own house :-(