Landlord & Tenant Lock Changes

The moment a tenancy ends, the security of the property is in a grey zone. Former tenants may have had copies cut for partners, family members, tradespeople or neighbours during their time in the property — and there is no practical way to account for every key that was ever made. A lock change at the start of each new tenancy closes that gap entirely. For landlords and letting agents in Hackney, where houses of multiple occupation, short lets and rapid tenant turnovers are common in areas like Stoke Newington and London Fields, this is a routine part of professional property management rather than an extraordinary precaution.

From the incoming tenant's perspective, a fresh cylinder or lock set is simply peace of mind. No matter how cordial the outgoing tenant was, knowing that the only people with working keys are those you have personally handed them to is worth a great deal. Some contents insurance policies also ask that front doors meet a minimum standard — often a BS 3621-rated 5-lever mortice deadlock or a TS007 3-star anti-snap euro cylinder — so a tenancy handover is an ideal moment to check and upgrade the hardware at the same time.

A lock change, depending on the door type, means replacing the cylinder, the entire lock case, or both. On a traditional Hackney period front door you will typically have a Yale-type nightlatch on the upper part of the door and a 5-lever mortice deadlock set into the door edge below it — both should be changed at a tenancy handover. On a uPVC or composite door, the euro cylinder is the component that is replaced; this is also the moment to fit an anti-snap cylinder if one is not already in place, since euro cylinder snapping is a well-documented method of forced entry that affects many uPVC doors across the borough. On a flat with a communal entrance, we consider both the flat's own front door and, where the landlord or housing association authorises it, the communal door lock as part of the conversation.

Our skilled technicians carry a range of replacement cylinders and lock cases rated to current British Standards, so we can usually complete the work in a single visit. We work damage-free wherever the door and frame allow — meaning we aim to change the lock without marking the paintwork or splintering the frame, which matters when deposits and check-out reports are involved. After the work is done, we hand over the agreed number of keys to the right person and confirm everything is working correctly before we leave.

For landlords and letting agents, the best time to arrange a tenancy lock change is on the day of key handover — ideally immediately after the outgoing tenant returns the keys and before the incoming tenant's reference is added to the lease. If you manage multiple Hackney properties, we can accommodate back-to-back visits across different postcodes in the same day. We understand that void periods cost money, so we work efficiently and can be booked for evenings, weekends and bank holidays when needed — our 24 hour locksmith London service runs every day of the year, including bank holidays such as the August bank holiday that tends to generate a cluster of end-of-tenancy moves across Hackney.

For tenants moving into a new flat or house, you are entitled to request a lock change as a reasonable security measure, and many landlords will agree to cover the cost or deduct it from the first month's rent by prior arrangement. If you are moving in and your landlord is not arranging the change, you can call us directly — we will simply ask for confirmation that you are the named tenant before we carry out any work, as part of our standard verification process. If you have just moved into a property on a street like Queensbridge Road or Buttermere Walk and you want that reassurance on day one, call us on 020 3757 8288 and we will send a technician straight out to you.

Every job is priced on its own details, and we confirm the exact figure before anyone travels to you — there are no surprises on the invoice. The factors that determine your quote include the type and number of locks on the door, the specific hardware selected (for example, a standard euro cylinder versus a TS007 3-star anti-snap upgrade), the time of day the work is carried out (evenings, weekends and bank holidays carry a different rate to standard daytime hours), and the location within our Hackney service area. We cover the full borough, including Dalston, Hackney Central, Clapton, Homerton, Shoreditch and the surrounding postcodes, and travel distance within that area is factored into the quote we give on the phone. Once you have accepted the price, it does not change — what we quote is what you pay.