LA wants to charge £36 for additional key for flat

ReadingTim

black_wings wrote: »

I'm thinking life it too short and will just pay it to get the key.

I think this is a wise approach. The problem with moneysaving is that sometimes it can lead to situations where people know the cost of everything, and the value of nothing.

Soundgirlrocks

We have a security key for our communal door precisely so we know exactly how many keys exist (a roughly who has them), with the high turn over of tenants in the BTL properties it was felt a sensible security measure.

To get a new key we have to take a signed letter from the freeholder director or management team to the locksmiths who installed the lock, they have a special order the key from the manufacture the key cost £15, without admin charges for the time for someone to go and get the key etc. £36 seem reasonable.

Amazingly the landlords in our block now make sure they get back all the front door keys at the end of tenancy...

nnb

I've had fob entry to the main door in the past but we would always get given a regular key as well in case the fob entry stops working? (This happened a lot!) Can you not just ask for a key version by claiming the fob doesn't always work? Then get one cut...

zagubov

This ^^^^^^^^

Do you actually mean if the battery dies on this contraption you can't get into your home? :eek:

3mph

The RFID fobs cost pennies but to have one cloned is about £20+ each. There is one reputable company in London that does it, you can google to find. I own our flat but extra RFID fobs are £42 each from the Management Company. When cloned it is exactly that, a copy of the ID, so the security records at your flat would show the same fob. Might be interesting if it actually tracks Ins and Outs.

exiled_red

That sounds normal to me for an electronic RFID tag from your letting agent, the flat I own the management company charges about the same.

££sc££

this sounds like our door entry fobs at work, they have to be programmed on site, so they'll need to get an operative to attend to do so....in which case £35 is cheap!

I did need two more for on an old flat, agent was unhelpful about how to get them and said they couldn't provide more than the 2 provided. as we were 4 adults in the flat this wasn't ideal! we bought 2 more for a low fee off the internet and followed some very complicated instructions of the internet programmed them from within the communal (always open) cupboard. agent had the cheek to phone me a year after we left to ask how we did it as the tenant that moved in after lost theirs