Getting Locks Changed

markin

If the landlord has never changed it the could 10, 20, 30 people who made extra copies for family and friends but only handed back the keys given to them.


Keep the old lock and put it back in when you leave, and hopefully use it on your next door.

RelievedSheff

To be fair it does depend how many locks you are changing and the quality of the locks you are replacing them with.

We have just changed all four of our locks so that they are all the same key with top spec Ultion locks. It wasn't a cheap job at £170 but worth it to us for peace of mind and the ease of just having one key fit everything.

venomx

dimbo61 wrote: »

So why after 7 months do you now want to change the locks ?
As a Landlord this would worry me !
Is the tenant trying to hide something like drugs, sub letting, growing drugs in the bedroom or loft.

No.
I suffer from Paranoid schizophrenia and am worrying that the last tenants might have a key for access ?

Id have no problem at all giving the landlord/estate agent a spare key.

need_an_answer

Why don't you discuss it with your LL...they may well have even changed the locks after the last tenant left anyway so you could be worrying about nothing as you,the LL and the agent are the only ones who hold keys.


I'm a LL and we tend to change locks after tenants leave. Its a simple process and then a set is held by our agent in case its needed for trades access or the tenant loses their key

Norman_Castle

If you have euro locks they are very easy to change.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9A915L_mlk

Argyle88

Be careful as it could be criminal damage as the locks are not yours to replace. And the Landlord in the tenancy will be allowed access, and any managing agent. Ask landlord's consent.

zagubov

I've changed locks in my rented accommodation. Unless there's something in the contract about it, I thought i was common practise.

You'd never even think to throw away the old lock because you have to put it back when you leave, because it's theirs and not yours.

I'd always offer my LL a copy of the key for the new lock, and the only reason I wouldn't ask for it back when I moved on I was because I'd obviously be fitting a different new lock to my next home.

davidmcn

Argyle88 wrote: »

Be careful as it could be criminal damage as the locks are not yours to replace.

No it couldn't, because (a) there's no criminal intent, and (b) there's no "damage" if it takes a couple of minutes with a screwdriver to put it back the way it was.

AnotherJoe

venomx wrote: »

No.
I suffer from Paranoid schizophrenia and am worrying that the last tenants might have a key for access ?

Id have no problem at all giving the landlord/estate agent a spare key.

You just need to have an ordinary level of caution to want to change locks there may be many copies around. As said keep originals and replace when you leave

kdotdotdotdot

The first thing I did before moving into my rented flat was to ask the LL to change the locks. I'd have thought that was fairly standard procedure. There's no way of knowing how many copies of the key were made by a previous tenant and where all those copies are now, so yes, a new lock is the way to go.

Ask your LL first to see if a new lock was installed before you moved in. If not, then change it. It's your peace of mind.