LA wants to charge £36 for additional key for flat

black_wings

Hi there! Just simply want to gauge option please
We are currently renting a flat. Our letting agent are also the management company for the whole block of flats. So they deal with us as the tenants but they also deal with all of the people who own the flats as leaseholders.

Usually when I've rented in the past it's been a house so have been able to cut as many spare keys as my heart might desire. This is my first time living in a flat and we now want a spare. Issue is the entry to the main door is via a plastic key fob. So it's not something we have an option of getting a spare cut when we want. Have asked the LA for a spare and they have told us we have to pay £36. I feel the cost is very high, I get it costs them admin time and posting but 36 seems high. Nothing mentioned in the tenancy agreement with regards to costs for additional keys.

Would you suck it up and pay the £36? I haven't tried negotiating with them on the cost yet but I doubt they will be open to that.

Guest101

Why cant you get a new one done, many key cutters now do electronic keys - have you checked.


they're not cheap, but not £36 either to be fair

black_wings

Ah right, I did not know that it was possible for key cutters to do this! I had googled a while ago and thought they weren't able to do this.
I'll try looking around the local shops, cheers.

aneary

I had to pay £25 for a fob then it cost me £5 for each key (front and back door keys) so I paid £35 for my cleaners keys.

ReadingTim

You could see what the cost of a replacement key is, and if it's less than £36, 'lose' the first one... However, like security passes at work, you may find the 'lost' one is deactivated.

I don't know what sort of plastic key fob it is, but comparing the cost to a bit of metal (aka traditional key) isn't a valid comparison - they're not the same beast. You might also want to have a look at this story and see how much an electronic car key costs before moaning over £36 - the equivalent of a round or two of drinks. Hardly massive compared to the flexibility of having a spare is it?!?

Red-Squirrel_2

black_wings wrote: »

Hi there! Just simply want to gauge option please
We are currently renting a flat. Our letting agent are also the management company for the whole block of flats. So they deal with us as the tenants but they also deal with all of the people who own the flats as leaseholders.

Usually when I've rented in the past it's been a house so have been able to cut as many spare keys as my heart might desire. This is my first time living in a flat and we now want a spare. Issue is the entry to the main door is via a plastic key fob. So it's not something we have an option of getting a spare cut when we want. Have asked the LA for a spare and they have told us we have to pay £36. I feel the cost is very high, I get it costs them admin time and posting but 36 seems high. Nothing mentioned in the tenancy agreement with regards to costs for additional keys.

Would you suck it up and pay the £36? I haven't tried negotiating with them on the cost yet but I doubt they will be open to that.

When I was living in a flat I had to pay £40 for a spare fob for the car park entrance, and I owned the flat, that was the charge from the management company, it was in 2010.

So yes, it is a bit on the expensive side but it probably isn't your landlord's fault.

SuboJvR

There's a gate into our development which requires pushing a button on a key fob, so not a "touch fob to panel" type. We went to a key cutter's to try and get a spare and it was going to be at least £60.

So depending on the fob type, may not be that bad.

The sort that you touch to a panel are much cheaper though, we have them at work, can buy in bulk and programme on site.

Guest101

black_wings wrote: »

Ah right, I did not know that it was possible for key cutters to do this! I will try to look into that.

Not all, as some are just small stores, but some now do it. You could ask to have the £36 be a deposit, refundable or part refundable when you return the key.

eddddy

The key fobs probably each contain an RFID chip with a unique ID.

Each time a new fob is issued, it's unique ID is added to the 'allowed' list on the door control system.

And if a fob is stolen, it's ID can be removed from the 'allowed' list.

It's possible to 'clone' an RFID chip, but I think only dodgy places would clone a key fob RFID chip.

Also, many door control systems keep a log of each time a fob is used (for additional security). So it may become obvious from the log that two fobs with the same ID are being used.

black_wings

eddddy wrote: »

The key fobs probably each contain an RFID chip with a unique ID.

Each time a new fob is issued, it's unique ID is added to the 'allowed' list on the door control system.

And if a fob is stolen, it's ID can be removed from the 'allowed' list.

It's possible to 'clone' an RFID chip, but I think only dodgy places would clone a key fob RFID chip.

Also, many door control systems keep a log of each time a fob is used (for additional security). So it may become obvious from the log that two fobs with the same ID are being used.

Thanks. This is what I had read previously, which is why I understood that I couldn't just get a copy done myself.
I'm thinking life is too short and will just pay to get the key.

saajan_12

How many keys were listed on your inventory / tenancy agreement? Those should be given free of charge. If nothing was mentioned and you accepted a certain number on the first day, I think that would be in the agreement, and any further keys would be for you to purchase separately.

£36 doesn't seem far off the going rate for electronic key fobs. In a flat I was renting a few years ago, the management company/porters charged £30 but actually suggested I could buy similar fobs off online for £10 (major online retailer) and get they would (re)program it for £5 each. I didn't try it, but suspect I could have said it was their fob that stopped working and they would reprogram it for free.