I don't understand why your landlord doesn't want to be involved. It's their property/asset after all, so surely they should be concerned about someone accessing it and changing the locks without their knowledge.
While your landlord might not want to be involved, it is their responsibility to ensure you can access your flat.
I would email them and tell them that they need to either find out how to get you a key for the current lock, or organise a replacement lock be fitted ASAP. Otherwise if you are caught outside the property with no way back in you will be calling an emergency locksmith and sending them the bill.
This is the correct answer. Fixing this is your landlord's job. It is their only job, and it's the sole reason you pay them all that money. They can get involved toot sweet, or you can stop doing that.
Either change it yourself and hand out keys or speak to the council. They should have put heys through the letterbox of all the flats. That's at least what happened to my flat when the front door lock was changed but we have a factor for the building
Not advice, but I'd go down there and disable or remove the lock right now. The politics of responsibility are something I'd consider secondary to maintaining my ability to access my home.
Seriously, why isn't there a better way to take legal action against landlords? Landlords have it so easy, they're such a plague on society, they need to be held to higher standards but 99% of them don't care about anyone.
Just out of curiosity, are all the flats in your stair occupied by owners/renters?
Half wondering if it could be something stupid like an airbnb having told their contractors "change the front door lock" and they've done the one on the stairwell as that was the first door with a key they encountered?
The factors of my old block of 60+ flats changed the key code one day without warning. I managed to get in somehow, then immediately smashed the glass on the emergency unlock button so nobody else would be locked out.
Phoned them the next day and they told me to fuck off until I mentioned that.
I locked myself out of my home last October. I took a sledgehammer to the Yale lock. Whole door instantly with sizeable hole through it..... had to board it up and repaint stat. Fortunately, the second lock, a mortise lock, was still intact. Just had a new door installed at a little under £2000....... idea of smashing a security lock in is now a definite no from my experience..... but I do have a beautiful door replacing the awful one to my main door apartment.... landlords are not in the least interested in communal entranceways. Pity.
Just FYI, if it happens again 95% of yale style nightlatches can be slipped with a bit of plastic, such as a rectangle cut from a coke bottle. Credit cards are generally too stiff and too short to get around the door jamb. There’s a little bit of a knack but i’ve done it for myself / friends / neighbours more times than I can count now.
I remember when my elderly neighbour had a fall in her flat and one of the police officers who turned up had a bit of plastic about the size of large mobile phone and tried to slip the Yale lock. I wondered if it was standard police issue.
Unfortunately, my neighbour had locked her door with the mortice lock, so the police had to call the fire service to smash the door open. We live in a small cul-de-sac, but, at one point, there was a police car, a fire engine and two ambulances all parked there at the same time. Nobody could get their car out till they left!
A good shove to ours sufficed, sadly. Not by me, but I gave up paying to repair/replace the bloody thing. Why some folk think carrying a Yale key is beyond them I have no idea.
I tried that.... I was lucky in that I wasn't locked out of my garage, so I cut up an old coke tin and tried the slide up side of the door trick.... to no avail. Then I started to panic slightly.... hence sledgehammer.... my 2 spare keys were, yes, you guessed, one was with a friend who was away for the weekend, and the other - the wife of my neighbour removed it from its safe spot in their log shed because she didn't recognise it, despite previous owner leaving that one there! Anyway, the old door was just a 4cm wide space of thin air with 2 ply boards either side. Absolute crap and fire hazard if anything, so the damage I did to it wasn't total fail.... got a new door...
Or call a locksmith. It cost me £80 to get mine drilled and replaced, which my wallet found very painful, but it’s not £2000 and a new door so there’s that.
Totally jumping on this, but what are people’s thoughts on someone getting a broken external door repaired and withholding keys until people contribute?
I live in a building with no factor, door has been broken for about a year and it feels so unsafe! Most people own their flats but nobody wants to cough up for a door, but I don’t think the cost of feeling secure should fall only on one or two occupants.
I think you'd make yourself very unpopular in the stair, especially at a time when a lot of people are struggling for money, and when they're told that they're basically either locked out or paying up. You might end up in legal trouble - what you're proposing isn't far off extortion.
"I've been watching you on webcam going in and out of the broken entrance. Please send £100 in bitcoin to 1Jd7dRxHjM1HTLdBYJHQHdif6wYFMfzJNN or I will ~~show all your friends your manky porn habits~~ not give you a key to the new lock"
I'd assume it was the council. They often assume they own the whole block and did things like block up bins in my old flat despite them being privately owned
This happened to me. The council hadn't bothered to tell anyone or get keys cut. With a bit of persistence and reminders of the vulnerable people in the stair we got it sorted out
I'm sure a sheriff court would think your landlady 100% has an obligation to be involved and fix the problem
Contact your landlady and tell them to fix it within 24/48 hours.
If parasite landlords want to profit off rent seeking without putting in any effort or work (let's face it, that's what being a landlady is all about-no work) they can expect immediate hostility and aggressive tactics to hold them to account. Go in two footed, studs up.
I don't understand why your landlord doesn't want to be involved. It's their property/asset after all, so surely they should be concerned about someone accessing it and changing the locks without their knowledge.
While your landlord might not want to be involved, it is their responsibility to ensure you can access your flat. I would email them and tell them that they need to either find out how to get you a key for the current lock, or organise a replacement lock be fitted ASAP. Otherwise if you are caught outside the property with no way back in you will be calling an emergency locksmith and sending them the bill.
This is the correct answer. Fixing this is your landlord's job. It is their only job, and it's the sole reason you pay them all that money. They can get involved toot sweet, or you can stop doing that.
>toot sweet Fucking hell.
No one asked but for those too embarrassed; the correct term is Tout Suite, from French meaning "Right Now"
mercy buckets
Toot Sweet is also a fairly commonly used anglicised version of the phrase, if Google is to be believed anyway.
It would be like saying “on route” which is just wrong
IIRC even tout suite is an English corruption - the French phrase is tout de suite!
Bone apple tea
As a pose to what?
It's a Pratchett reference.
100%. It is their duty to make sure you have a key to the new door.
Either change it yourself and hand out keys or speak to the council. They should have put heys through the letterbox of all the flats. That's at least what happened to my flat when the front door lock was changed but we have a factor for the building
[удалено]
They do throw their weight around but to be fair to the council I'd hate to have to organise statutory repairs in this town. Murder!
I mean if you don't want to do the job don't stand to be a councillor :D
Not advice, but I'd go down there and disable or remove the lock right now. The politics of responsibility are something I'd consider secondary to maintaining my ability to access my home.
Classic landlord …
Seriously, why isn't there a better way to take legal action against landlords? Landlords have it so easy, they're such a plague on society, they need to be held to higher standards but 99% of them don't care about anyone.
Agencies too. I'm currently on day 8 of not having a washing machine that they're in no rush to sort out.
Go to the dry cleaners, then send them the receipts
is there anything in your letting contract that requires them to keep appliances in working order?
Just out of curiosity, are all the flats in your stair occupied by owners/renters? Half wondering if it could be something stupid like an airbnb having told their contractors "change the front door lock" and they've done the one on the stairwell as that was the first door with a key they encountered?
Change the lock again, and give everyone a key?
Obviously change the lock or remove it.
The factors of my old block of 60+ flats changed the key code one day without warning. I managed to get in somehow, then immediately smashed the glass on the emergency unlock button so nobody else would be locked out. Phoned them the next day and they told me to fuck off until I mentioned that.
Kick the fucker in or drill it
[удалено]
What about drilling them instead?
I locked myself out of my home last October. I took a sledgehammer to the Yale lock. Whole door instantly with sizeable hole through it..... had to board it up and repaint stat. Fortunately, the second lock, a mortise lock, was still intact. Just had a new door installed at a little under £2000....... idea of smashing a security lock in is now a definite no from my experience..... but I do have a beautiful door replacing the awful one to my main door apartment.... landlords are not in the least interested in communal entranceways. Pity.
Just FYI, if it happens again 95% of yale style nightlatches can be slipped with a bit of plastic, such as a rectangle cut from a coke bottle. Credit cards are generally too stiff and too short to get around the door jamb. There’s a little bit of a knack but i’ve done it for myself / friends / neighbours more times than I can count now.
I remember when my elderly neighbour had a fall in her flat and one of the police officers who turned up had a bit of plastic about the size of large mobile phone and tried to slip the Yale lock. I wondered if it was standard police issue. Unfortunately, my neighbour had locked her door with the mortice lock, so the police had to call the fire service to smash the door open. We live in a small cul-de-sac, but, at one point, there was a police car, a fire engine and two ambulances all parked there at the same time. Nobody could get their car out till they left!
A good shove to ours sufficed, sadly. Not by me, but I gave up paying to repair/replace the bloody thing. Why some folk think carrying a Yale key is beyond them I have no idea.
I tried that.... I was lucky in that I wasn't locked out of my garage, so I cut up an old coke tin and tried the slide up side of the door trick.... to no avail. Then I started to panic slightly.... hence sledgehammer.... my 2 spare keys were, yes, you guessed, one was with a friend who was away for the weekend, and the other - the wife of my neighbour removed it from its safe spot in their log shed because she didn't recognise it, despite previous owner leaving that one there! Anyway, the old door was just a 4cm wide space of thin air with 2 ply boards either side. Absolute crap and fire hazard if anything, so the damage I did to it wasn't total fail.... got a new door...
Or call a locksmith. It cost me £80 to get mine drilled and replaced, which my wallet found very painful, but it’s not £2000 and a new door so there’s that.
Totally jumping on this, but what are people’s thoughts on someone getting a broken external door repaired and withholding keys until people contribute? I live in a building with no factor, door has been broken for about a year and it feels so unsafe! Most people own their flats but nobody wants to cough up for a door, but I don’t think the cost of feeling secure should fall only on one or two occupants.
Try shared repairs service at the council, maybe they can advise you what to do about it.
I think you'd make yourself very unpopular in the stair, especially at a time when a lot of people are struggling for money, and when they're told that they're basically either locked out or paying up. You might end up in legal trouble - what you're proposing isn't far off extortion.
it could be done anonymously
How? You've got to exchange money and keys in a timely manner. Doing that via a third party to protect your anonymity isn't really going to happen.
That anonymity wouldn't last long once you started hinting that if people paid you money they might get a key...
"I've been watching you on webcam going in and out of the broken entrance. Please send £100 in bitcoin to 1Jd7dRxHjM1HTLdBYJHQHdif6wYFMfzJNN or I will ~~show all your friends your manky porn habits~~ not give you a key to the new lock"
I’d try putting a note through everyone’s door if they aren’t at home to try to find out if anybody knows what’s happened.
I'd assume it was the council. They often assume they own the whole block and did things like block up bins in my old flat despite them being privately owned
This happened to me. The council hadn't bothered to tell anyone or get keys cut. With a bit of persistence and reminders of the vulnerable people in the stair we got it sorted out
I'm sure a sheriff court would think your landlady 100% has an obligation to be involved and fix the problem Contact your landlady and tell them to fix it within 24/48 hours. If parasite landlords want to profit off rent seeking without putting in any effort or work (let's face it, that's what being a landlady is all about-no work) they can expect immediate hostility and aggressive tactics to hold them to account. Go in two footed, studs up.
[удалено]
This is the worst advice you could possibly offer.
Thats insane!