Renting a room - entitled to a lock on the door?

kelembark

Hello,

I've just moved in to a new house, renting a room from a live-out landlord with a bog-standard assured shorthold tenancy agreement. (Each tenant has their own agreement; we are not a group.)

Since moving in, I have reason to mistrust one of the other tenants here.

I don't have a lock on the door to my bedroom (no tenant here does).

Do I have a right to ask the landlord to put a lock on my door, to which only myself and the landlord have the key? If the landlord refuses to put a lock on, do I have a right to pay a tradesman to put a lock on my door for me?

Many thanks!

Rosemary7391

I don't think you could put a lock on the door yourself - after all, that means putting holes in the door which is hard to fix afterwards! In what way do you mistrust them? You can get temporary locks that don't damage the door, but most (all?) of them are only for when you're inside. Might a noisy alarm help when you're out? Should be possible to set that up so it doesn't damage anything, or you could do a very rough CCTV setup if you've a webcam, then you'd know if they'd been in your room.

Certainly you can ask the landlord for a lock. Worst they can do is say no!

BrassicWoman

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Skiweb-Howsar-Portable-Door-Lock/dp/B001BN3I68/ref=sr_1_cc_4?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1452280536&sr=1-4-catcorr&keywords=door+lock+student

theGrinch

did you ask the LL about locks on the door prior to signing an agreement?

kelembark

Thanks for the replies. No I didn't ask about the locks propr to signing. However, given that we all have separate tenancy agreements, I was wondering if there was any provision in law which meant we were entitled to have locks on the doors. (If it were a group tenancy, with all names listed on one contract, then I could understand not having locks -- but that's not the case here.)

Also, I am having difficulty getting home insurance for my belongings due to not having a lock on my door.

I appreciate the pragmatic solutions, but really I want a proper lock.

Pixie5740

No there's no law that says your landlord has to fit a door on your bedroom lock when you rent an individual room.

Miss_Samantha

Pixie5740 wrote: »

fit a door on your bedroom lock

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::T

SuzieSue

I've got one of these on my bedroom door. You need to check that the handle is suitable:

https://www.locksonline.co.uk/acatalog/Temporary-Door-Locks.html

Andypandyboy

kelembark wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. No I didn't ask about the locks propr to signing. However, given that we all have separate tenancy agreements, I was wondering if there was any provision in law which meant we were entitled to have locks on the doors. (If it were a group tenancy, with all names listed on one contract, then I could understand not having locks -- but that's not the case here.)

Also, I am having difficulty getting home insurance for my belongings due to not having a lock on my door.

I appreciate the pragmatic solutions, but really I want a proper lock.

I am not surprised, even in University accom inusrance is void unless door to room has been locked. Only forced entry means a claim will be paid. Maybe you should use this angle to the LL.

beanandbean

Definitely worth an ask. Phrase it that you're struggling to get insurance, and if he refuses for whatever reason then just invest in a temporary one. £40 isn't that much over the length of tenancy and you'll probably be able to sell it on to another student once you're done with it :-)