Any rights to lock in shared house?

Wicked_witch

Hi,

My daughter is living in a shared house and one of her housemates has taken to coming into her room, including when she's not even in. This girl is a friend of hers, not a stranger, but is quite self obsessed and dramatic, whereas my daughter is very unassertive.

Now my daughter has a cat (allowed by landlady) and friend keeps opening the door and letting her own cat into the room, where he eats daughter-cat's food then throws up etc.

Anyway, does my daughter have any rights to put a lock on her bedroom door? The landlady is very particular and seems not to want this. I think daughter will have to do it anyway, but it would be easier if she actually has a legal right to do so! She will remove it and make good when she leaves and is prepared to lose some of her deposit if necessary.

My daughter has mental health problems, so suggesting she stands up to housemate is a non-starter, especially as she has very recently been seriously ill.

getmore4less

You can get special locks that don't cause any damage.

Is it a HMO?


There are rules on the type of locks you can fit.

landlord zone might be a good place to seek out info

Wicked_witch

Thanks. Unfortunately her door doesn't close properly either! I remember seeing some kind of student lock which covers the handle, but can't find them now- might have been an american product.

As far as I know it's an HMO. They all pay rent separately to the landlady via bank transfer.

PasturesNew

Most temporary locks work on the basis of you being inside the room. There is one lock developed by a man at Bristol University that requires no fitting. I'll google to find it, I know it's hard to track down.

Here it is: http://www.templock.co.uk/

suelizab

So in reality this girl Is NOT a friend of your daughter . Personally, I would have a lock on my bedroom door but it could be a fire hazard . You could encourage said friend to move out or your daughter could find somewhere else to live .

PasturesNew

suelizab wrote: »

So in reality this girl Is NOT a friend of your daughter . Personally, I would have a lock on my bedroom door but it could be a fire hazard . You could encourage said friend to move out or your daughter could find somewhere else to live .

A lock isn't a fire hazard. But a landlord will most likely refuse a lock because it requires fitting/drilling and could cause future complications with keys etc.

She wouldn't be able to persuade the other person to move out - and moving out herself would cause considerable expense and it's not easy, especially as she's allowed a cat.

Wicked_witch

Thanks so much PN. That'll be ideal if my husband can fix the door.

I agree about the friend, suelizab! Unfortunately my daughter is not a great judge of character... she is not my bio daughter sadly, and had a lot of issues in her life before we met in her late teens, which have led to her being very vulnerable to controlling people who claim to like her But she is in intensive therapy now and that will be addressed in due course!

She is still under contract for the house at the moment but planning to move in with her boyfriend after that. Getting the cat was not a good idea at all of course, especially right now, but I can't run her life and don't really want to.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

here's a wee video showing how to fit, simple.

getmore4less

AIUI

HMO locks must open from the inside without a key.

BigAunty

PasturesNew wrote: »

A lock isn't a fire hazard. ...

Unless it is one that isn't thumb screw operated on the inside, (requiring a key to open the door, for example, that can't be found in a smoke filled room...).