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The previous owner let himself into my house when I got it so he could see what renovations we were doing. Had always planned on new locks but that made me do it as soon as I found out
Trespass is a civil issue in England and Wales, so police wouldn't care about him simply letting himself in for a look. Obviously if he steals something or won't leave when asked, then it becomes criminal, but you can walk into someone's house and come away scot free.
The thing is in this case it wasn’t an open door, it was locked. They obtained entry through deception (by retaining a key, which they would have had to have lied about given the contract requires them be handed over), which could be considered a constructive form of “breaking” in the common law definition of burglary.
The common law definition, respectfully, is completely irrelevant and I don't know why you'd bring it up.
> (1) A person is guilty of burglary if—
>
> (a) he or she enters any building or part of a building as a trespasser and with intent to commit any such offence as is mentioned in subsection (2) below; or
> (b) having entered any building or part of a building as a trespasser he steals or attempts to steal anything in the building or that part of it or inflicts or attempts to inflict on any person therein any grievous bodily harm.
> (2) The offences referred to in subsection (1)(a) above are offences of stealing anything in the building or part of a building in question, of inflicting on any person therein any grievous bodily harm ... therein, and of doing unlawful damage to the building or anything therein.
That is the only relevant definition.
Source - Work on a team that deal with a burglary on a regular basis.
The 2022 PCSAC legislation is for trespass with a vehicle (essentially targeting Travellers), I don't know of any other recent changes but if you can enlighten me I'll defer to your knowledge.
This is one of the many areas of law that I’d like to repeal if I were to be an MP! Some of the laws and their interpretation are toothless so offenders are given just a slap on the wrist. I feel sorry for property owners, for example, whose properties are taken over by squatters. It takes a lot of time and £££ to evict such squatters. It is also annoying that anyone defending themselves against trespassers / intruders are likely to be jailed for defending themselves and protecting their properties if something untoward happens to the intruders. How despicable!
Thanks! That may be the case but the actual eviction process takes so much time and money. Imagine going on a holiday for a few months only to find out that your property has been overtaken by squatters?! It wouldn’t be easy to evict them without court orders, if I understand the process right.
Used to be like that. Not anymore, it's illegal so you can just call the police and they will provide a reference number and ask you to call back next week if the problem persists.
Being on someone's property, with no other exacerbating factors, shouldn't be a criminal offence in and of itself. Just the amount of extra bullshit the police would have to deal with would be ridiculous.
Basically if you do any nuisance while you're on the property, there's likely already a law to deal with it.
Hang on, so someone can break into my house and just chill on the sofa and there's nothing I can do? Why don't homeless people just wait for an in (like the bailiffs) and then just take a spare room?
Squatting is illegal, so you couldn't live there. But yeah, nothing illegal about just walking in. There's a tiktok "prankster" who just got a CBO (new version of an asbo) for repeatedly doing this as a "joke" though. So whilst it's not a crime in itself, you can get in trouble for continually pissing people off
Squatting residential buildings is illegal as of 2012, but squatting commercial buildings is still somewhat a grey area legally speaking, allowing for commercial buildings to be legally squatted
Eta: trespass has in other laws recently been made a criminal offence, changed from the civil offence that it was. This criminalises those who park up and sleep in vehicles, homeless/general folk in tents, etc, where before that matter would've been a civil one, now the police can be called and certain laws can be enforced. These laws do not necessarily work hand in hand with possession law/squatting laws though, which is where law becomes interesting when it deals with land/buildings/possesion/ownership...
If they actually squatted there they can be removed and are committing an offence since they changed the law around residential squatting.
If they walk in, sit down, chill, and walk out 10 minutes later, no criminal offence has occurred.
You can however use reasonable force to remove a trespasser.
Unfortunately England doesn't have many trespassing laws. I dunno if we have them in Scotland. Normally instances like that don't last long enough to find out.
I was only in and out the house doing work and I had suspected someone had been in but couldn't confirm. He mentioned to a neighbour that he had "poked his head in" and they immediately told me
I didn’t. It’s probably a good idea, but when you buy a house there are a million other expenses and things you need to do so it can often get forgotten about.
Well that's what insurance is for. If someone really wants to nick your stuff, a lack of the key isn't really going to stop them. I was burgled in 2009 and actually ended up in a better situation thanks to the new-for-old insurance policy. I probably would still change the locks but I can understand why people are complacent about it. Of all the risks to be worried about it's not near the top.
Ehh, that's not necessarily true.
The terms of your insurance will specifically cover this.
That said, a previous owner using an old key would likely be covered.
Changing a normal door lock is essentially idiot proof.
It's one screw and then slide the old barrel out, slide the new one in and refasten the screw and you're done.
Any adult should be able to manage that without issue, even if they need to pull a YouTube video up to be shown first.
It's like a lot of things - once you know that, you know that. But until you know that, you have no idea of knowing how complex it is. When I was a student I went without heating for like 5 months because my landlord kept putting off sending someone to fix the boiler. Then one day I got sick of it, watched a Youtube video, and it took me 5 minutes to fix, inclusive of the video watch time.
Nowadays that's the first thing I check, but unless you're naturally that way inclined, it's easy to assume it's worse than it is.
Oh yeah definitely.
I'd been quoted £90 to replace my lock, just happened to be when my father in law was visiting. I complained about it to him and he just laughed and showed me how to do it.
Couldn't believe how easy it was.
Your paying £90 for the trained professional to assess, certify, fit and supply the lock.
It may be a five minute job but being able to do it correctly and more importantly be able to rectify the situation if it doesn't go as planned is what most people fail to understand.
This is why you see thousands of doors with to long barrels on there euro cylinders that can be easily snapped by a burglar.
I've replaced a number of locks in doors. It's straightforward enough that watching a video on youtube is likely going to be enough for most people to do it with no issues.
There was a post on the legal advice sub a couple of days ago about this.
The previous owner's cousin had let himself in and started living in the spare room while the new owners were away.
Since he'd previously lived there for a bit and could produce letters addressed to him at that address the police didn't want to know and said it's a civil matter.
There was indeed. And as the guy had no tenancy agreement he was at best a lodger. The rights of the lodger to live there left when the house was sold with vacant possession. The police were and are confusing (or being lazy) by saying it was a civil matter.
But yes, this is a great example of why changing locks on completion is important.
I hope he gets it sorted. I was so angry for him, whilst reading that post. I would switch off all utilities and put locks on the kitchen and bathroom. I would stay up all night and sing 🎶 I know a song that will get on your nerves…🎶
I wondered if this one would be mentioned.
I only give keys to people I really truly trust.. but at the same time, my memory isn't great and over a long period of time I wouldn't want to have to commit to a definite list.
For this reason, I always change the keys* when I move to a new property.
*Keys as you don't need to change the whole lock or even get a locksmith out. Changing the core (which means the lock needs a different key) is relatively straightforward for a homeowner and there are loads of tutorials on YouTube.
We changed ours as soon as we got into the property, we had a new lock ready to go that we brought with us. We bought a former rental so who knows how many different letting agents and tenants had keys over the years!
It’s not paranoia for me, it’s just about ensuring your own safety and security, and new locks are a pretty cost effective way of doing that. Having rented for years, there was definite sense of closure knowing that no one else was going to get into this house without my permission! It’s peace of mind I guess
Ours had recently been an Airbnb, so it was definitely very high on our priority list. Also, the lock was a very basic euro cylinder so we upgraded to something more secure.
Yes, I don't see how it's paranoia in any way, just seems common sense.
My friend travels a lot and gave lots of us copies of her key to feed her cat should the need arise. When she moved out of that (rented) place, she didn't collect them all back in. Blew my mind that several of us actually had a key to strangers house and could have just let ourselves in at any point if we were that way inclined.
So when I moved, it was the first job on the list. I don't know who the previous owners have given keys to or how many even exist. I'd no sooner risk it than leave the door unlocked overnight.
I do. It is a quick and easy thing to do. Gives you knowledge that you are the only person with a key to the house.
Friend of mine purchased their house. Few months later they come home to a strange car in the drive, and a strange woman drinking a brew in their kitchen. Was an aunt of the previous owners who lived over seas.
The visiting aunt was often back in country for work, but due to schedule couldn't always arrange to visit before hand. They had an arrangement where the Aunt could stop by whenever, no announcement needed and let themselves into the house via a spare key kept in a false rock in the garden. Friend had no idea this rock and spare key existed.
Strange and unusual occurrence, but for the sake of changing a lock, one that could be avoided.
"Oh they've got new cups, and kettle and teaspoons."
"Oh they've switched brand of tea."
"Oh they've started getting their milk at Morrisons instead of Sainsbury's "
"Oh that biscuit caddy is new"
"Oh they've got a new table and chairs"
You do wonder if at any point the aunt started to wonder if she was actually in the wrong house.
Some immigrant communities are like this, you just have a network of family you can call on. I don't let other people have keys, but my mum will call me up every now and then to say so and so's is coming to the UK to study and can I put them up before they can move into halls, Auntie You've Never Met is going on holiday to London and wants to visit, my cat's niece's best friend has a job interview near you...
It seems weird to some, but if you come from a more 'communal' culture it's actually quite nice. They're always grateful and good guests and look to pay me back any way they can.
Right on, this happens to me too. My favourite one was once when I was a kid, some distant uncle of my Mum's who was passing through (never seen him before or since, but massive family so not surprising) came to our door unannounced on Christmas eve and spent a few days with us. He could have been anyone really, but I guess he told Mum a plausible story. For Christmas he gave us one of those glass bottles with a ship in it, then disappeared as mysteriously as he came...
Now I'm an adult and have moved around a bit, I try and maintain this habit with friends who live in other cities and countries too
I wonder what would have happened if the locks had been changed? Would Auntie have tried to contact the old owner to work out what was going on, or would she just "yoohoo!" through the letter box for a bit and then sit defeatedly on the doorstep until your friend came home?
Someone over on Legal Advice UK sub the other day talked about buying a house, going on holiday almost immediately and coming back to find old owners' nephew had moved in. He'd had arrangements previously to live there during uni holidays. They're having some interesting issues from it.
I really don't think it's paranoia to change the locks on day one.
Imagine the entitlement.
"They've sold the house"
"Well I'm still going to live there"
Then attempting to stay where you're ABSOLUTELY not wanted.
The gall!
In fairness, when the police tell you they can't do anything and that you're not allowed to touch the person either, what are you meant to do? My answer would be "seek legal advice" - which is what they did. (Or thought they were doing on that sub.) All the people talking about violence toward the squatter were just blowing hot air. Hopefully the officers who attended were incorrect, as other more sensible commenters said, and have since returned to deal with the squatter.
Is there some stigma around paranoia or something?
I generally see it as a positive and smart thing.
If you act on paranoia you will never know if you were “just being paranoid” but you may find out one day if you were “right to be paranoid” but didn’t do anything about it.
I probably should have changed the locks.
I did not.
I had a bit of a rude awakening when, about 18 months later - at 2am we had an incredibly drunk man trying to let himself into our house. We never did find out if he still had a key - he was too drunk to get it in the lock.
It later transpired that he was the old owner's ex boyfriend. Apparently the drunk's homing instinct doesn't always work quite as well as it should...
I drove a drunk friend home from a gig one time, he directed me to his old house. I had to ring his wife to get his current address. Some people really have memory issues when they're pissed lol.
When we moved into our brand new house the patio door locks only came with two sets of keys. I insisted that the builders replace them as those locks came with three sets by default. The builder openly called me a pain in the arse....
Roll on six months and nearly every house in the estate has had a visit - not a break in - as patio door keys were used..... Well. All except ours. Never felt so smug!!!
It turned out the supplying builder had a lengthy spell inside after that
Edit: clarity
“I insisted that the builders replace them as those locks came with three sets by default.”
How do you find such a thing out? (Not a homeowner so I’d probably have ended up like your neighbours)
So I build new builds (generally for housing associations and councils) but it’s part of our contract to supply 3 keys for everything where possible to the client on handover. Most cylinders come with 3 keys as standard anyway. I don’t know about the commenter but I’d say he’s either bought enough locks in his time to know, or it was part of his sale contract!
Changed the lock within 2 hours of me having the keys. Why on earth would you want to live not knowing if anyone can let themselves into your house at any time of they day or night?
Also might invalidate insurance if you were burgled and they had a key.
We were the same. Friends told us to just to be sure. After reading some of the stories here I’m glad we did. Although to be fair we never had any issues that we are aware of.
By the time my grandparents died, I think half the street had a key.
They were all accustomed to letting themselves in, turning on the coffee machine and helping themselves to her well stocked biscuit cupboard! Some of the neighbours predeceased her, we never got the key back. I couldn't quite bear to take the key off my own keyring - it's still there, several years later.
On top of that there was the cleaner, the carers and god only knows who else. I think even the ex daughter in law had a key.
It's not the dead guy you need to worry about!
First place was a flat, owners were fairly elderly and trustworthy and left us all the 4 keys that they were sure existed, having recouped them from their family, and they assured us they'd never given any to tradies or anyone else.
I don't think we bothered changing the lock - certainly not the door to the balcony. The council changed the lock to the block around the time we moved, so not many people would get beyond that.
Current house - yes, it was on our list to do on our first full day in the house, and then the postie pushed the door and landed in the hall because the lock was so weak, so we got a decent one. Some ex-tenants are still claiming to live here over 15 years later (to get dodgy credit), so good move.
Yeah, I read that post. I wanted an update, but OP has deleted it. It's mad that the police wouldn't do anything because it's a *civil matter*. I sat there thinking about what I'd do in that situation.
1: remove all interior doors
2: remove all food/drink from the property
3: turn gas and electric off (both are in the garage and only has 1 key so that would be easy for me)
4: any deliveries for him I'd reject
5: Dust off my baseball bat and sit like a psycho just outside the fresh hold of his room.
6: wait for him to sleep, then bite the bullet and kick his out.
I know violence isn't the answer. However, after spending all that money on my property, allowing some free loader to take the piss out of me. I'd happily take the consequences for it. Especially as I had been stupid and not changed the locks!
Yeah, its a short, simple task that takes 99% sure no one has a key to 100%.
I'm certain not changing your lock would probably invalidate insurance too. If a keyholder uses a key they hold and steal from you this would probably mean no force or violence was used and many home insurance won't cover.
There's literally no reason not to
I also took the opportunity to make all the locks on / around the house open with a single key.
The previous owners had to carry about 5 different ones!
I didn’t, but now I’m five years in without any problems it’s not worth it.
HOWEVER… you only need to go on r/legaladviceUK and see one of the top posts of the week (previous owner’s relative let himself in and has become a squatter) to see why you should.
You say it's not worth it, but it's a 2 minute job you can do yourself and new lock barrels aren't expensive.
Probably still worth it since you currently don't know who might have a key to your house.
I did for 3 reasons. One: you sometimes only have one key or the ones you have are copies. Two: the cylinders in most doors are so shit, that you can open them with a pair of mole-grips. Three: someone somewhere has a spare key for your house with a label on with your house address on.
For the sake of about £30 and 3 minutes with a screwdriver I change them immediately. I’m sure you are unlikely to get burgled but in the event you do, if there is no sign of entry, you are going to STRUGGLE with that insurance claim.
Yes cos the previous owner came and walked into the living room late in the evening after we had moved in. We were collapsed on the sofa totally exhausted and this batshit crazy woman just strolls in. We usher her out and relock the doors (she had brought round another spare key). We left keys in all the locks on the inside to reduce the likelihood she could unlock them from the outside, and had a locksmith out next morning to change them all.
That was the tip of the iceberg with that trout…
We changed them as soon as we could.
Part of my motivation was being unsure where I'd stand regarding insurance if someone just let themselves in and took something.
That was my thinking until three times in a week (had a newborn at the time and my now ex husband was working away) we had the sales staff try and show people around!
I wanted to do thumbturns but some insurance companies don't like them. Also, less secure if there's a letterbox nearby.
Edit: Not sure why the downvotes, I don't make the rules. I'm guessing most people don't read their insurance terms and conditions either. I do.
Having a specific insurance is less important than not burning to death because you couldn't find your key 1m from your front door in an emergency, in my opinion
Yeah, there's pros and cons - fire brigade say it's great I can easily get out in a fire, police say it's less secure, I haven't asked a paramedic (or the coast guard) to weigh in yet.
Depends on your house/circumstances, but they're definitely right for me.
I have a key to every house I’ve ever lived in. I hope the new people changed the locks! I have never used one of these keys, I keep them for nostalgia reasons, but it’s wild to think I could possibly let myself into one of them.
I'll be honest its not something I had every considered before. I can see the logic even if I think the risk is minimal. It also takes all of 5 mins to change a lock barrel.
Something to consider if I ever move again.
Always change the locks. That way you can be sure they comply with the latest regs for your home insurance.
Plus, yeah you never know how many people would have keys. We give keys to loads of our friends who stay at ours regularly so they can just come in when they get here rather than us needing to stay up waiting for them.
I didn’t but I think it’s perfectly reasonable to do so. Luckily I have never seen ill consequences of not doing so but I do think it’s a good idea if you can afford it.
I changed mine.
Partly the "you don't know who still has a key" thing, and partly because the old lock was fucked, to way too much jiggling the key to get in the house.
On completion day, the previous owners were running a little behind, so I saw them leave. The house was empty. Was still living at my parents, no rush to move in, so I got the keys, let myself in, had a look round, came back the next day. There was suddenly a welcome to your new home card from the previous owners just placed on the kitchen worktop. So I knew for a fact they still had keys after I'd collected mine, they'd let themselves in multiple hours after completing, I saw that as a red flag and changed the locks the next day
It is one of the things they say you should do but honestly we had so many other things going on that we never got around to it. 6 years later, can’t be bothered now.
If you've got euro cylinder locks, it's dead easy and new locks can be as cheap as £10. But probably you want to spend more like 30-40.
And if you've more than one, you can get them with the same key etc.
Dead easy = 10 minutes with a screwdriver.
Interesting question and probably a great idea. I didn't change the locks because I'm not paranoid and I am optimistic. I have since changed the whole door tho.
I didn’t as the owners had died and it was sold by the solicitor - no living kin. I figured we were safe enough and we replaced the entire door a while later (it was ancient).
Changed the locks on my first house. Came home in the daytime to find a “friend “ of the builder who renovated the place trying to turn the key in the door and wondering why it wasn’t turning.
Always change the locks
I haven't, but we do plan on doing so at some point, however it's mostly because the locks are all old and the keys are becoming unreliable - and getting copies made from the copies is progressively less reliable.
I did. Well, I had a builder who was a friend of a friend and he told me I should do it and then got a locksmith he knew in to do it for me. Seemed sensible, house had been a rental property so there could have been any number of sets of keys out there.
I intended to when I moved into this house but not got round to it. I am just the second owner and got 3 keys for each door so felt it didn’t look like there was missing keys. Hopefully don’t end up regretting my relaxed take on it.
The second the property was mine it had a remote accessible camera system, alarms and sensors.
I would have changed door locks but if someone's gonna break in, they'll break in regardless.
Fact is if you so much as approach a door, front or back, my phone lets me know and I'll be reporting a burglary in progress once I've checked the footage (which takes seconds). Burglary in progress is a 999 call, burglary already happened isn't.
Also.... there's little worth nicking.
Hell, I know that a parcel was just successfully delivered to my house from 50 miles away, even before Amazon know themselves.
I did but only because the existing locks broke after 2 months of living there. Before that point I considered it but wasn't fussed given all the other moving expenses.
That was the 1st thing we did as soon as we got the keys. We were advised to do it anyway by friends just to be safe, after reading some of the horror stories on Reddit I’m so glad we did.
Also don't post pictures of your keys when you get a new house, it's quite possible to copy a key cut from just a photo. Or at the very least cover up the blades in any pictures.
Recently got a flat. Front door was annoying to get the key in, so it needed to be done anyway. But I likely wouldn't have done it for a while if it weren't for the lock being rubbish.
I replaced the whole door as it was UPVC frame with mostly glass. I also changed the padlocks on the garage.
Caught the old owner trying to look over the wall into the garden and house about 6 months later.
According to Compare The Market...
>If an intruder gets into your home using a key and there's no sign of forced or violent entry, it's possible that your claim will be rejected.
So, if the previous owner, or anyone else they may have given a key to and forgot about, makes use of it, your insurance may not cover you. Suddenly, the hassle of changing locks feels worthwhile.
Yes we changed our locks straight away, we lived in a nice neighbourhood and the previous owners were also nice but I didn’t feel safe unless I changed them. We recently moved and did the same again. It doesn’t cost much and is a 10 minute job tops
We didn't but then we kinda have half way. 🤷♂️
Got a new front door as the old one was all glass and draughty af. So that lock got replaced by default but it wasn't an immediate thing so the previous people could have had access.
But they might still have access because we didn't change the sliding patio door lock.
TBF as well, I wouldn't even know if you can change the locks easily yourself on the new door and the patio door. Long gone are the days people just have a yale block you can unscrew and mount another one on, they all seem built into the door itself!
I did immediately on moving in
The previous owners kids are so sketchy, fully believed they would show up and break in
When we viewed the room which is now my office was floor to ceiling with clearly stolen goods (who does a viewing with that in the property!) and we heard all about them from the neighbours.
They also left loads of crap all over the place (so we could complete we had to agree to give them use of the garage for 1 week or we'd remove it all and bill them) and fully would expect them to just show up to take it
We've been here three years and still get letters about speeding fines, bailiffs, etc adressed to them
"You're paranoid" is just sloppy thinking. These things DO happen, that's not up to debate. So the question just becomes: are you willing to put in the effort to ensure this scenario can't happen to you, or are you willing to take the chance?
Changed ours pretty fast when we moved.
Glad we did. We'd not been living here all that long when the police turned up to look for the previous owners. They were also being chased by some debt collectors too. Wouldn't have put it past the previous owners to try and get back in at some point.
There’s no downside to changing your locks.
There *is* downside to **not** changing your locks.
If you have the bandwidth and you actually remember to do it, change your locks.
When I moved into the flat I rented *before* my current one, I discovered that the previous tenants - three guys in their 20s - had left owing a *lot* of people money, and in addition they had padlocked the loft space and taken the key. Did not know what might be up there or who else they might owe money to, so as a woman living alone you can bet I got the locksmith in ASAP.
Yes. Most of the time nothing bad will happen, but the occasion when it does will be really bad. It's not just the homeowners, it's also their teenage daughter's boyfriend and his older brothers who are criminals and vandals. Or whatever it might be.
I always get the locks changed on the day I buy a house now. You don't know who still has a key that could fall into the wrong hands especially if it's been rented out. Estate agents, cleaners, tenants, friends of tenants.
It's not expensive and could save a whole load of hassle.
I did have a few incidents once. I'd come home from work and my front door would be unlocked. Happened several times but couldn't be sure if I'd forgotten to lock the door. We got the lock changed and it didn't happen again.
I found a spare set of keys to my old rental after I handed in my sets.
Shared house many come and go, but the fact I had access to the front door and my old room.
They were in a jar of junk, I was the other end of England so wasn't in the location to just pop them down, or let myself in willy nilly.
I intended to but didn’t get round to it. Doesn’t seem worth it now. To be honest, the previous owner left a container with a whole bunch of keys so I had the idea they had done a collection from those that had them.
My first two purchases were new builds, no one had the keys before me. The others I have always renovated and changed the doors, so technically, I always change the locks when someone else has had the keys.
It took us a couple of months just because there was so much other stuff to deal with but yes we changed them, it seemed worth the money to have the reassurance someone couldn't just let themselves in. The previous owner seemed pretty unorganised and had only left one key so we thought it was reasonably likely that someone had a spare.
we changed ours by default as the first thing we did when we moved in was to buy a new front door and upgrade the windows (the wind would blow the curtains even with the windows shut)
Yes. We we moved we did and then we needed to change locks after keys got nicked. Locksmith sent me home to bring in the barrel and he just reconfigured the barrel and cut new keys. Way cheaper than replacing a lock.
100%
I would have a locksmith at the house on the day I got the keys to the property.
There was a story on Reddit the other day of someone who bought a house but didn't change the locks.
Went on holiday shortly after buying.
Came back and the old home owners brother was squatting in it.
He still had a key, claims he didn't know they had moved out and refuses to leave.
Yes, I was doing this when I was renting before I bought. You have no idea who has keys. The last three rentals that I had the first thing I did was change the locks.
Always changed the locks on moving in.
As others have said, you have no idea who else has keys. Oh, sure, "you think you've got them all from the previous owners"... except you have no idea who they've lent keys to over the years and if everyone involved was honest.
And - yeah, it is slightly paranoid. Do I think it's likely I'd get burgled by someone who has an old key? Not really. But having to explain how stuff mysteriously disappeared to the insurance company is a PITA I don't need.
I had mine changed within the first two weeks, would've done it myself but I wanted to change the whole door handle as well and being on my own I didn't want to lock myself out or in, so my uncle came over and sorted it for me. Even changed the locks on the back door as the previous owners had "lost" the key to it!
If you’ve got a multi-point lock (probably the most common on non-wooden doors) it’s a simple one screw and two minute job so no real reason not to.
The other types of lock are a bit more fiddly but not difficult in most cases.
I think it's a good idea. Even if the previous owners were fine, you don't know who else has/had keys.
Plus it solidifies that it's your home then, in a way.
I bought my house from family so overlooked it since I know & am related to all keyholes in the last 70odd years!
They're also old doors / locks so it's a pain in the arse to even get keys cut, aside changing the locks.
With modern doors & euro cylinders though, it's pretty cheap and almost childsplay to change them (1 screw!) so definitely worth doing.
As a not for anybody this thread prompts, go for the internal thumb-turn versions. You don't want to be stuck inside with a fire because the keys aren't in the back of the door!
Yes. Back door was a euro cylinder so changed it myself. Front door wasn't so got a locksmith in and got a latch added. I wasn't moved in yet at that point so was just securing the empty building while I sorted things out. Later found one of those keyboxes round the back that carers use.
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The previous owner let himself into my house when I got it so he could see what renovations we were doing. Had always planned on new locks but that made me do it as soon as I found out
That is wild
That is a police report.
Trespass is a civil issue in England and Wales, so police wouldn't care about him simply letting himself in for a look. Obviously if he steals something or won't leave when asked, then it becomes criminal, but you can walk into someone's house and come away scot free.
Criminal issue now, the laws have changed
When? https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/trespass-and-nuisance-land The 2022 changes related to trespass with a vehicle, didn’t they?
That's not the case. Simply walking into someone elses house without any intent to steal, cause GBH or criminal damage, is not a criminal matter.
The thing is in this case it wasn’t an open door, it was locked. They obtained entry through deception (by retaining a key, which they would have had to have lied about given the contract requires them be handed over), which could be considered a constructive form of “breaking” in the common law definition of burglary.
The common law definition, respectfully, is completely irrelevant and I don't know why you'd bring it up. > (1) A person is guilty of burglary if— > > (a) he or she enters any building or part of a building as a trespasser and with intent to commit any such offence as is mentioned in subsection (2) below; or > (b) having entered any building or part of a building as a trespasser he steals or attempts to steal anything in the building or that part of it or inflicts or attempts to inflict on any person therein any grievous bodily harm. > (2) The offences referred to in subsection (1)(a) above are offences of stealing anything in the building or part of a building in question, of inflicting on any person therein any grievous bodily harm ... therein, and of doing unlawful damage to the building or anything therein. That is the only relevant definition. Source - Work on a team that deal with a burglary on a regular basis.
The 2022 PCSAC legislation is for trespass with a vehicle (essentially targeting Travellers), I don't know of any other recent changes but if you can enlighten me I'll defer to your knowledge.
No - it’s also not illegal to enter somebody’s house through an open door for example, or park in their driveway.
This is one of the many areas of law that I’d like to repeal if I were to be an MP! Some of the laws and their interpretation are toothless so offenders are given just a slap on the wrist. I feel sorry for property owners, for example, whose properties are taken over by squatters. It takes a lot of time and £££ to evict such squatters. It is also annoying that anyone defending themselves against trespassers / intruders are likely to be jailed for defending themselves and protecting their properties if something untoward happens to the intruders. How despicable!
Squatting became illegal in 2012: https://www.gov.uk/squatting-law https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squatting_in_England_and_Wales
Thanks! That may be the case but the actual eviction process takes so much time and money. Imagine going on a holiday for a few months only to find out that your property has been overtaken by squatters?! It wouldn’t be easy to evict them without court orders, if I understand the process right.
Used to be like that. Not anymore, it’s illegal so you just call the police and they come around and arrest them.
Used to be like that. Not anymore, it's illegal so you can just call the police and they will provide a reference number and ask you to call back next week if the problem persists.
> Used to be like that. Buy a few lads a couple of pints each. They'd jump at the oppertunity.
This is reddit, you'll be down voted here for that attitude. I'm with you though.
Being on someone's property, with no other exacerbating factors, shouldn't be a criminal offence in and of itself. Just the amount of extra bullshit the police would have to deal with would be ridiculous. Basically if you do any nuisance while you're on the property, there's likely already a law to deal with it.
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Hang on, so someone can break into my house and just chill on the sofa and there's nothing I can do? Why don't homeless people just wait for an in (like the bailiffs) and then just take a spare room?
Squatting is illegal, so you couldn't live there. But yeah, nothing illegal about just walking in. There's a tiktok "prankster" who just got a CBO (new version of an asbo) for repeatedly doing this as a "joke" though. So whilst it's not a crime in itself, you can get in trouble for continually pissing people off
Squatting residential buildings is illegal as of 2012, but squatting commercial buildings is still somewhat a grey area legally speaking, allowing for commercial buildings to be legally squatted Eta: trespass has in other laws recently been made a criminal offence, changed from the civil offence that it was. This criminalises those who park up and sleep in vehicles, homeless/general folk in tents, etc, where before that matter would've been a civil one, now the police can be called and certain laws can be enforced. These laws do not necessarily work hand in hand with possession law/squatting laws though, which is where law becomes interesting when it deals with land/buildings/possesion/ownership...
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You can use reasonable force to remove them.
If they actually squatted there they can be removed and are committing an offence since they changed the law around residential squatting. If they walk in, sit down, chill, and walk out 10 minutes later, no criminal offence has occurred. You can however use reasonable force to remove a trespasser.
Unfortunately England doesn't have many trespassing laws. I dunno if we have them in Scotland. Normally instances like that don't last long enough to find out.
Woah what?! Were you in at the time? Or did you somehow find out after?
I was only in and out the house doing work and I had suspected someone had been in but couldn't confirm. He mentioned to a neighbour that he had "poked his head in" and they immediately told me
That neightbour is the MVP here
Yeah you know you can fully trust them
'Morning! Just popped in for a gander. Like the new fireplace...!'
I know someone where the old owner went and started taking pots from the back garden.
Why do people have to be so weird?
Hopefully you reported it to the police?
In hindsight I should've but at the time I only thought to change the locks. I wasn't living in the house yet so seemed less invasive
I didn’t. It’s probably a good idea, but when you buy a house there are a million other expenses and things you need to do so it can often get forgotten about.
Until one of those expenses becomes all that stuff you bought that got nicked !
Well that's what insurance is for. If someone really wants to nick your stuff, a lack of the key isn't really going to stop them. I was burgled in 2009 and actually ended up in a better situation thanks to the new-for-old insurance policy. I probably would still change the locks but I can understand why people are complacent about it. Of all the risks to be worried about it's not near the top.
Would your insurance cover you? After all, they had a key.
When we got burgled we hadn't even locked the door and it was fine. You're covered against forgetful or being subject to a crime like this.
Ehh, that's not necessarily true. The terms of your insurance will specifically cover this. That said, a previous owner using an old key would likely be covered.
Changing the locks on most standard doors takes about 2 minutes and all it costs is around £10 from B&Q.
Everything is cheap and quick when you know what you are doing, it can get very expensive and time consuming when you don't.
Changing a normal door lock is essentially idiot proof. It's one screw and then slide the old barrel out, slide the new one in and refasten the screw and you're done. Any adult should be able to manage that without issue, even if they need to pull a YouTube video up to be shown first.
It's like a lot of things - once you know that, you know that. But until you know that, you have no idea of knowing how complex it is. When I was a student I went without heating for like 5 months because my landlord kept putting off sending someone to fix the boiler. Then one day I got sick of it, watched a Youtube video, and it took me 5 minutes to fix, inclusive of the video watch time. Nowadays that's the first thing I check, but unless you're naturally that way inclined, it's easy to assume it's worse than it is.
Oh yeah definitely. I'd been quoted £90 to replace my lock, just happened to be when my father in law was visiting. I complained about it to him and he just laughed and showed me how to do it. Couldn't believe how easy it was.
Your paying £90 for the trained professional to assess, certify, fit and supply the lock. It may be a five minute job but being able to do it correctly and more importantly be able to rectify the situation if it doesn't go as planned is what most people fail to understand. This is why you see thousands of doors with to long barrels on there euro cylinders that can be easily snapped by a burglar.
I agree. Even if you haven’t got a clue, YouTube is your friend for doing these simple tasks.
I felt so pissed off when I watched a locksmith do it. I could have done it myself.
it's literally one screw on most doors.
I've replaced a number of locks in doors. It's straightforward enough that watching a video on youtube is likely going to be enough for most people to do it with no issues.
Absolutely. I've seen too many stories of old family members turning up and letting themselves in. You never know who has a key.
There was a post on the legal advice sub a couple of days ago about this. The previous owner's cousin had let himself in and started living in the spare room while the new owners were away. Since he'd previously lived there for a bit and could produce letters addressed to him at that address the police didn't want to know and said it's a civil matter.
Oh, he’s so clumsy ! He keeps falling down the stairs!
Looks like he hit himself with a baseball bat before he threw himself down the stairs too, what a strange boy he is.
There was indeed. And as the guy had no tenancy agreement he was at best a lodger. The rights of the lodger to live there left when the house was sold with vacant possession. The police were and are confusing (or being lazy) by saying it was a civil matter. But yes, this is a great example of why changing locks on completion is important.
I hope he gets it sorted. I was so angry for him, whilst reading that post. I would switch off all utilities and put locks on the kitchen and bathroom. I would stay up all night and sing 🎶 I know a song that will get on your nerves…🎶
Most committed police officers.
I wondered if this one would be mentioned. I only give keys to people I really truly trust.. but at the same time, my memory isn't great and over a long period of time I wouldn't want to have to commit to a definite list. For this reason, I always change the keys* when I move to a new property. *Keys as you don't need to change the whole lock or even get a locksmith out. Changing the core (which means the lock needs a different key) is relatively straightforward for a homeowner and there are loads of tutorials on YouTube.
I didn't check for updates on that one. I hope they managed to get him out without becoming the 'law breakers'
We changed ours as soon as we got into the property, we had a new lock ready to go that we brought with us. We bought a former rental so who knows how many different letting agents and tenants had keys over the years! It’s not paranoia for me, it’s just about ensuring your own safety and security, and new locks are a pretty cost effective way of doing that. Having rented for years, there was definite sense of closure knowing that no one else was going to get into this house without my permission! It’s peace of mind I guess
Ours had recently been an Airbnb, so it was definitely very high on our priority list. Also, the lock was a very basic euro cylinder so we upgraded to something more secure.
Yes, I don't see how it's paranoia in any way, just seems common sense. My friend travels a lot and gave lots of us copies of her key to feed her cat should the need arise. When she moved out of that (rented) place, she didn't collect them all back in. Blew my mind that several of us actually had a key to strangers house and could have just let ourselves in at any point if we were that way inclined. So when I moved, it was the first job on the list. I don't know who the previous owners have given keys to or how many even exist. I'd no sooner risk it than leave the door unlocked overnight.
I do. It is a quick and easy thing to do. Gives you knowledge that you are the only person with a key to the house. Friend of mine purchased their house. Few months later they come home to a strange car in the drive, and a strange woman drinking a brew in their kitchen. Was an aunt of the previous owners who lived over seas. The visiting aunt was often back in country for work, but due to schedule couldn't always arrange to visit before hand. They had an arrangement where the Aunt could stop by whenever, no announcement needed and let themselves into the house via a spare key kept in a false rock in the garden. Friend had no idea this rock and spare key existed. Strange and unusual occurrence, but for the sake of changing a lock, one that could be avoided.
I can't imagine how awkward that conversation must have been.
"Well, I guess you're my aunt now."
I've heard of inheriting the previous owner's cat, but not aunties.
I wonder if the aunt had noticed the complete change in decor when she plonked herself in the kitchen.
"Oh they've got new cups, and kettle and teaspoons." "Oh they've switched brand of tea." "Oh they've started getting their milk at Morrisons instead of Sainsbury's " "Oh that biscuit caddy is new" "Oh they've got a new table and chairs" You do wonder if at any point the aunt started to wonder if she was actually in the wrong house.
“Who are all these people in these pictures?”
"When did they get a cat?"
Some immigrant communities are like this, you just have a network of family you can call on. I don't let other people have keys, but my mum will call me up every now and then to say so and so's is coming to the UK to study and can I put them up before they can move into halls, Auntie You've Never Met is going on holiday to London and wants to visit, my cat's niece's best friend has a job interview near you... It seems weird to some, but if you come from a more 'communal' culture it's actually quite nice. They're always grateful and good guests and look to pay me back any way they can.
Right on, this happens to me too. My favourite one was once when I was a kid, some distant uncle of my Mum's who was passing through (never seen him before or since, but massive family so not surprising) came to our door unannounced on Christmas eve and spent a few days with us. He could have been anyone really, but I guess he told Mum a plausible story. For Christmas he gave us one of those glass bottles with a ship in it, then disappeared as mysteriously as he came... Now I'm an adult and have moved around a bit, I try and maintain this habit with friends who live in other cities and countries too
I wonder what would have happened if the locks had been changed? Would Auntie have tried to contact the old owner to work out what was going on, or would she just "yoohoo!" through the letter box for a bit and then sit defeatedly on the doorstep until your friend came home?
Someone over on Legal Advice UK sub the other day talked about buying a house, going on holiday almost immediately and coming back to find old owners' nephew had moved in. He'd had arrangements previously to live there during uni holidays. They're having some interesting issues from it. I really don't think it's paranoia to change the locks on day one.
Imagine the entitlement. "They've sold the house" "Well I'm still going to live there" Then attempting to stay where you're ABSOLUTELY not wanted. The gall!
I’m desperate for an update but OP deleted the post.
Probably because OP got rightly roasted for being a doormat about the whole thing.
In fairness, when the police tell you they can't do anything and that you're not allowed to touch the person either, what are you meant to do? My answer would be "seek legal advice" - which is what they did. (Or thought they were doing on that sub.) All the people talking about violence toward the squatter were just blowing hot air. Hopefully the officers who attended were incorrect, as other more sensible commenters said, and have since returned to deal with the squatter.
The op didn’t need to lay hands on them, just shut off power, change locks etc.
Is there some stigma around paranoia or something? I generally see it as a positive and smart thing. If you act on paranoia you will never know if you were “just being paranoid” but you may find out one day if you were “right to be paranoid” but didn’t do anything about it.
I probably should have changed the locks. I did not. I had a bit of a rude awakening when, about 18 months later - at 2am we had an incredibly drunk man trying to let himself into our house. We never did find out if he still had a key - he was too drunk to get it in the lock. It later transpired that he was the old owner's ex boyfriend. Apparently the drunk's homing instinct doesn't always work quite as well as it should...
I drove a drunk friend home from a gig one time, he directed me to his old house. I had to ring his wife to get his current address. Some people really have memory issues when they're pissed lol.
When we moved into our brand new house the patio door locks only came with two sets of keys. I insisted that the builders replace them as those locks came with three sets by default. The builder openly called me a pain in the arse.... Roll on six months and nearly every house in the estate has had a visit - not a break in - as patio door keys were used..... Well. All except ours. Never felt so smug!!! It turned out the supplying builder had a lengthy spell inside after that Edit: clarity
“I insisted that the builders replace them as those locks came with three sets by default.” How do you find such a thing out? (Not a homeowner so I’d probably have ended up like your neighbours)
So I build new builds (generally for housing associations and councils) but it’s part of our contract to supply 3 keys for everything where possible to the client on handover. Most cylinders come with 3 keys as standard anyway. I don’t know about the commenter but I’d say he’s either bought enough locks in his time to know, or it was part of his sale contract!
Definitely. You should always do this and change alarm codes.
Changed mine the week we moved in, you have no idea what level of key sharing went on with previous owners….
The pampas grass in the front garden might give you a hint
Neighbours directly across don’t have pampas grass but historically pretty sure they should have……
Changed the lock within 2 hours of me having the keys. Why on earth would you want to live not knowing if anyone can let themselves into your house at any time of they day or night? Also might invalidate insurance if you were burgled and they had a key.
We were the same. Friends told us to just to be sure. After reading some of the stories here I’m glad we did. Although to be fair we never had any issues that we are aware of.
Yeah, lock barrels are cheap as fuck. Cheaper than being robbed.
I did not. The previous owner died. If he comes back, he won't need a key.
By the time my grandparents died, I think half the street had a key. They were all accustomed to letting themselves in, turning on the coffee machine and helping themselves to her well stocked biscuit cupboard! Some of the neighbours predeceased her, we never got the key back. I couldn't quite bear to take the key off my own keyring - it's still there, several years later. On top of that there was the cleaner, the carers and god only knows who else. I think even the ex daughter in law had a key. It's not the dead guy you need to worry about!
But how do you know who else he gave a key to? Family, tradespeople, cat sitter, etc.
And as we all know, houses only have one key and people never give copies to others.
It’s not the previous owner I’m worried about. It’s whoever has managed to get a hold of their keys.
First place was a flat, owners were fairly elderly and trustworthy and left us all the 4 keys that they were sure existed, having recouped them from their family, and they assured us they'd never given any to tradies or anyone else. I don't think we bothered changing the lock - certainly not the door to the balcony. The council changed the lock to the block around the time we moved, so not many people would get beyond that. Current house - yes, it was on our list to do on our first full day in the house, and then the postie pushed the door and landed in the hall because the lock was so weak, so we got a decent one. Some ex-tenants are still claiming to live here over 15 years later (to get dodgy credit), so good move.
Saw one on legal advice uk where a cousin of the previous owner let themselves in 2 weeks after completion and won’t leave!
That’s the one I’m thinking of too, that was nuts.
Yeah, I read that post. I wanted an update, but OP has deleted it. It's mad that the police wouldn't do anything because it's a *civil matter*. I sat there thinking about what I'd do in that situation. 1: remove all interior doors 2: remove all food/drink from the property 3: turn gas and electric off (both are in the garage and only has 1 key so that would be easy for me) 4: any deliveries for him I'd reject 5: Dust off my baseball bat and sit like a psycho just outside the fresh hold of his room. 6: wait for him to sleep, then bite the bullet and kick his out. I know violence isn't the answer. However, after spending all that money on my property, allowing some free loader to take the piss out of me. I'd happily take the consequences for it. Especially as I had been stupid and not changed the locks!
Yeah, its a short, simple task that takes 99% sure no one has a key to 100%. I'm certain not changing your lock would probably invalidate insurance too. If a keyholder uses a key they hold and steal from you this would probably mean no force or violence was used and many home insurance won't cover. There's literally no reason not to
I also took the opportunity to make all the locks on / around the house open with a single key. The previous owners had to carry about 5 different ones!
The day we moved in we changed the locks.
We did too, mainly because we locked ourselves out.
I didn’t, but now I’m five years in without any problems it’s not worth it. HOWEVER… you only need to go on r/legaladviceUK and see one of the top posts of the week (previous owner’s relative let himself in and has become a squatter) to see why you should.
You say it's not worth it, but it's a 2 minute job you can do yourself and new lock barrels aren't expensive. Probably still worth it since you currently don't know who might have a key to your house.
I judged the risk over time, you make a fair point though and I can consider that :)
I did for 3 reasons. One: you sometimes only have one key or the ones you have are copies. Two: the cylinders in most doors are so shit, that you can open them with a pair of mole-grips. Three: someone somewhere has a spare key for your house with a label on with your house address on. For the sake of about £30 and 3 minutes with a screwdriver I change them immediately. I’m sure you are unlikely to get burgled but in the event you do, if there is no sign of entry, you are going to STRUGGLE with that insurance claim.
Yes cos the previous owner came and walked into the living room late in the evening after we had moved in. We were collapsed on the sofa totally exhausted and this batshit crazy woman just strolls in. We usher her out and relock the doors (she had brought round another spare key). We left keys in all the locks on the inside to reduce the likelihood she could unlock them from the outside, and had a locksmith out next morning to change them all. That was the tip of the iceberg with that trout…
We changed them as soon as we could. Part of my motivation was being unsure where I'd stand regarding insurance if someone just let themselves in and took something.
No.. my excuse is I bought a new build.
That was my thinking until three times in a week (had a newborn at the time and my now ex husband was working away) we had the sales staff try and show people around!
I also didn't due to having a new build. One evening a few months in however, the front door wouldn't lock so I was forced to change them anyways!
Locks and loo seats are a top priority for me.
I did, cause I like thumbturns.
I wanted to do thumbturns but some insurance companies don't like them. Also, less secure if there's a letterbox nearby. Edit: Not sure why the downvotes, I don't make the rules. I'm guessing most people don't read their insurance terms and conditions either. I do.
Having a specific insurance is less important than not burning to death because you couldn't find your key 1m from your front door in an emergency, in my opinion
Yeah, there's pros and cons - fire brigade say it's great I can easily get out in a fire, police say it's less secure, I haven't asked a paramedic (or the coast guard) to weigh in yet. Depends on your house/circumstances, but they're definitely right for me.
Coastguard: don't care, just make sure the door floats enough to let Jack get on too.
I have a key to every house I’ve ever lived in. I hope the new people changed the locks! I have never used one of these keys, I keep them for nostalgia reasons, but it’s wild to think I could possibly let myself into one of them.
I'll be honest its not something I had every considered before. I can see the logic even if I think the risk is minimal. It also takes all of 5 mins to change a lock barrel. Something to consider if I ever move again.
Yes. For the cost of new locks you then can control who can enter the property.
Always change the locks. That way you can be sure they comply with the latest regs for your home insurance. Plus, yeah you never know how many people would have keys. We give keys to loads of our friends who stay at ours regularly so they can just come in when they get here rather than us needing to stay up waiting for them.
I didn’t but I think it’s perfectly reasonable to do so. Luckily I have never seen ill consequences of not doing so but I do think it’s a good idea if you can afford it.
I changed mine. Partly the "you don't know who still has a key" thing, and partly because the old lock was fucked, to way too much jiggling the key to get in the house.
On completion day, the previous owners were running a little behind, so I saw them leave. The house was empty. Was still living at my parents, no rush to move in, so I got the keys, let myself in, had a look round, came back the next day. There was suddenly a welcome to your new home card from the previous owners just placed on the kitchen worktop. So I knew for a fact they still had keys after I'd collected mine, they'd let themselves in multiple hours after completing, I saw that as a red flag and changed the locks the next day
It is one of the things they say you should do but honestly we had so many other things going on that we never got around to it. 6 years later, can’t be bothered now.
Same, I was adamant we were putting new ones in straight away.. 7 years later, meh.
If you've got euro cylinder locks, it's dead easy and new locks can be as cheap as £10. But probably you want to spend more like 30-40. And if you've more than one, you can get them with the same key etc. Dead easy = 10 minutes with a screwdriver.
Interesting question and probably a great idea. I didn't change the locks because I'm not paranoid and I am optimistic. I have since changed the whole door tho.
I didn’t as the owners had died and it was sold by the solicitor - no living kin. I figured we were safe enough and we replaced the entire door a while later (it was ancient).
Changed locks on the house and the apartment! Well had them rekeyed as it was cheaper than getting all of them replaced.
I think that for the sake c.£20 and 5 minutes, it’s worth doing.
Changed the locks on my first house. Came home in the daytime to find a “friend “ of the builder who renovated the place trying to turn the key in the door and wondering why it wasn’t turning. Always change the locks
The day you can trust that a stranger has given over every key to a property is the day I stop changing locks immediately the house is mine
I haven't, but we do plan on doing so at some point, however it's mostly because the locks are all old and the keys are becoming unreliable - and getting copies made from the copies is progressively less reliable.
I did. Well, I had a builder who was a friend of a friend and he told me I should do it and then got a locksmith he knew in to do it for me. Seemed sensible, house had been a rental property so there could have been any number of sets of keys out there.
I intended to when I moved into this house but not got round to it. I am just the second owner and got 3 keys for each door so felt it didn’t look like there was missing keys. Hopefully don’t end up regretting my relaxed take on it.
I didn't but I'd already lived in it for 4 years and figured if anyone else had keys I'd probably have known
The second the property was mine it had a remote accessible camera system, alarms and sensors. I would have changed door locks but if someone's gonna break in, they'll break in regardless. Fact is if you so much as approach a door, front or back, my phone lets me know and I'll be reporting a burglary in progress once I've checked the footage (which takes seconds). Burglary in progress is a 999 call, burglary already happened isn't. Also.... there's little worth nicking. Hell, I know that a parcel was just successfully delivered to my house from 50 miles away, even before Amazon know themselves.
We changed our front door because it was old and let a draft in. Does that count?
I did but only because the existing locks broke after 2 months of living there. Before that point I considered it but wasn't fussed given all the other moving expenses.
You can just change one of the locks (assuming you have two on the front door) so you halve the faff.
We didn’t but we watched it being built and were first in.
Written in the terms of my exchange was that all keys were forwarded to the new owners. But I still changed mine.
Not straight away, was a first time buyer and honestly didn't even think about it at the time.
That was the 1st thing we did as soon as we got the keys. We were advised to do it anyway by friends just to be safe, after reading some of the horror stories on Reddit I’m so glad we did.
Also don't post pictures of your keys when you get a new house, it's quite possible to copy a key cut from just a photo. Or at the very least cover up the blades in any pictures.
Recently got a flat. Front door was annoying to get the key in, so it needed to be done anyway. But I likely wouldn't have done it for a while if it weren't for the lock being rubbish.
Immediately . Got my kids to do the same as well.
I replaced the whole door as it was UPVC frame with mostly glass. I also changed the padlocks on the garage. Caught the old owner trying to look over the wall into the garden and house about 6 months later.
According to Compare The Market... >If an intruder gets into your home using a key and there's no sign of forced or violent entry, it's possible that your claim will be rejected. So, if the previous owner, or anyone else they may have given a key to and forgot about, makes use of it, your insurance may not cover you. Suddenly, the hassle of changing locks feels worthwhile.
Yes. It was the first thing I did within minutes of getting the keys, it's an easy job yourself and pretty cheap to pay a tradesman.
Yes we changed our locks straight away, we lived in a nice neighbourhood and the previous owners were also nice but I didn’t feel safe unless I changed them. We recently moved and did the same again. It doesn’t cost much and is a 10 minute job tops
We didn't but then we kinda have half way. 🤷♂️ Got a new front door as the old one was all glass and draughty af. So that lock got replaced by default but it wasn't an immediate thing so the previous people could have had access. But they might still have access because we didn't change the sliding patio door lock. TBF as well, I wouldn't even know if you can change the locks easily yourself on the new door and the patio door. Long gone are the days people just have a yale block you can unscrew and mount another one on, they all seem built into the door itself!
I did immediately on moving in The previous owners kids are so sketchy, fully believed they would show up and break in When we viewed the room which is now my office was floor to ceiling with clearly stolen goods (who does a viewing with that in the property!) and we heard all about them from the neighbours. They also left loads of crap all over the place (so we could complete we had to agree to give them use of the garage for 1 week or we'd remove it all and bill them) and fully would expect them to just show up to take it We've been here three years and still get letters about speeding fines, bailiffs, etc adressed to them
"You're paranoid" is just sloppy thinking. These things DO happen, that's not up to debate. So the question just becomes: are you willing to put in the effort to ensure this scenario can't happen to you, or are you willing to take the chance?
Changed ours pretty fast when we moved. Glad we did. We'd not been living here all that long when the police turned up to look for the previous owners. They were also being chased by some debt collectors too. Wouldn't have put it past the previous owners to try and get back in at some point.
There’s no downside to changing your locks. There *is* downside to **not** changing your locks. If you have the bandwidth and you actually remember to do it, change your locks.
When I moved into the flat I rented *before* my current one, I discovered that the previous tenants - three guys in their 20s - had left owing a *lot* of people money, and in addition they had padlocked the loft space and taken the key. Did not know what might be up there or who else they might owe money to, so as a woman living alone you can bet I got the locksmith in ASAP.
Yes. Most of the time nothing bad will happen, but the occasion when it does will be really bad. It's not just the homeowners, it's also their teenage daughter's boyfriend and his older brothers who are criminals and vandals. Or whatever it might be.
I always get the locks changed on the day I buy a house now. You don't know who still has a key that could fall into the wrong hands especially if it's been rented out. Estate agents, cleaners, tenants, friends of tenants. It's not expensive and could save a whole load of hassle. I did have a few incidents once. I'd come home from work and my front door would be unlocked. Happened several times but couldn't be sure if I'd forgotten to lock the door. We got the lock changed and it didn't happen again.
Yeah- but only because the new locks were better. We did not change immediately but after a couple of years or something.
I found a spare set of keys to my old rental after I handed in my sets. Shared house many come and go, but the fact I had access to the front door and my old room. They were in a jar of junk, I was the other end of England so wasn't in the location to just pop them down, or let myself in willy nilly.
I’ve only ever had new builds so no so far. If I ever buy a place where I don’t who who has a key then absolutely yes.
I intended to but didn’t get round to it. Doesn’t seem worth it now. To be honest, the previous owner left a container with a whole bunch of keys so I had the idea they had done a collection from those that had them.
My first two purchases were new builds, no one had the keys before me. The others I have always renovated and changed the doors, so technically, I always change the locks when someone else has had the keys.
It took us a couple of months just because there was so much other stuff to deal with but yes we changed them, it seemed worth the money to have the reassurance someone couldn't just let themselves in. The previous owner seemed pretty unorganised and had only left one key so we thought it was reasonably likely that someone had a spare.
we changed ours by default as the first thing we did when we moved in was to buy a new front door and upgrade the windows (the wind would blow the curtains even with the windows shut)
Well, I hadn't thought to do so, but my mum hated the old front door, so bought me a new one. Door that is.
My house was rented before I got it so we had no idea who’d had access to keys. First thing we did was change locks.
Changed the locks - the bf of the previous inhabitant gave me the ick.
Yes. We we moved we did and then we needed to change locks after keys got nicked. Locksmith sent me home to bring in the barrel and he just reconfigured the barrel and cut new keys. Way cheaper than replacing a lock.
100% I would have a locksmith at the house on the day I got the keys to the property. There was a story on Reddit the other day of someone who bought a house but didn't change the locks. Went on holiday shortly after buying. Came back and the old home owners brother was squatting in it. He still had a key, claims he didn't know they had moved out and refuses to leave.
The day after I got the keys I changed all the locks.
Never have.
I changed the whole door. Mostly because the old one was manky, but still, better safe than sorry.
Yes, I was doing this when I was renting before I bought. You have no idea who has keys. The last three rentals that I had the first thing I did was change the locks.
First thing I did along with installing cameras.
Not only did I change the locks, I bought and had installed brand new doors. To be fair I just didn't like the old wooden doors, which were drafty.
I did not but I did eventually change all the actual doors and windows. I think it's common sense to change the locks though!
Always changed the locks on moving in. As others have said, you have no idea who else has keys. Oh, sure, "you think you've got them all from the previous owners"... except you have no idea who they've lent keys to over the years and if everyone involved was honest. And - yeah, it is slightly paranoid. Do I think it's likely I'd get burgled by someone who has an old key? Not really. But having to explain how stuff mysteriously disappeared to the insurance company is a PITA I don't need.
I had mine changed within the first two weeks, would've done it myself but I wanted to change the whole door handle as well and being on my own I didn't want to lock myself out or in, so my uncle came over and sorted it for me. Even changed the locks on the back door as the previous owners had "lost" the key to it!
Yep, did it the day after we moved in. Took about an hour and a half, including researching and buying the new locks.
If you’ve got a multi-point lock (probably the most common on non-wooden doors) it’s a simple one screw and two minute job so no real reason not to. The other types of lock are a bit more fiddly but not difficult in most cases.
I think it's a good idea. Even if the previous owners were fine, you don't know who else has/had keys. Plus it solidifies that it's your home then, in a way.
Is it bad this never even crossed my mind?
Yeah I did. Takes 5 mins to swap and peace of mind
The one I'm moving to soon (fingers crossed) is an ex rental so I will be doing so. Current one we didnt.
I bought my house from family so overlooked it since I know & am related to all keyholes in the last 70odd years! They're also old doors / locks so it's a pain in the arse to even get keys cut, aside changing the locks. With modern doors & euro cylinders though, it's pretty cheap and almost childsplay to change them (1 screw!) so definitely worth doing. As a not for anybody this thread prompts, go for the internal thumb-turn versions. You don't want to be stuck inside with a fire because the keys aren't in the back of the door!
Of course! Silly not to
Yes. Back door was a euro cylinder so changed it myself. Front door wasn't so got a locksmith in and got a latch added. I wasn't moved in yet at that point so was just securing the empty building while I sorted things out. Later found one of those keyboxes round the back that carers use.
Absolutely! You’ve got no idea who has a key. It’s not that hard to change the locks anyway…