Updating post from Reddit.
I live in an HMO and each room has a lock on the door. I’ve noticed at least twice that I’ve locked the door then gone away for the day/weekend and come back to the door unlocked. The landlord isn’t sure why the door would be unlocked but I’m a bit stressed that somebody is entering my room without my consent. Does anyone know what’s best to do here?
An indoor ring style camera would work
Sticking some kind of kiddie cam bear or similar hidden camera, in your room is totally legal OP
So that would give you who - if it can’t give you why!
change your lock and tell no one. then you'll find out
If this is an internal Yale lock, they're pretty easy to unlock without a key. Just in case you were considering changing locks, might not stop it.
Get a camera in your room and then sue the shit out of them
Change your lock. Get the landlord to swap it out with a new one. They only cost like a tenner
Have you asked every one one of your housemates? Has to be one of them.
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Why give the landlord a key?
Because he needs one. It’s the Tenants home, but it’s the Landlords house. I keep spare keys for all my houses, HMO rooms etc. you wouldn’t believe the amount of times a tenant locks themselves out and I have to go round with a new key. Also, the landlord should be paying for the lock change. It’s cheap, simple to do and only takes a few minutes.
>Because he needs one
No he doesn't.
>you wouldn’t believe the amount of times a tenant locks themselves out and I have to go round with a new key
Sounds more like convenience than a need.
People don't give a spare car key to the company they lease their car from in case they get locked out.
I appreciate the citation, specifically
>There is no automatic right for a landlord to hold keys,
Yes, that was one of the rumours
Which the opinion piece states "there's no case law either way", and only mentions keys for the communal area to be required.
And "there's no law either way" isn't a requirement.
Since someone has access, and there's lack of enjoyment due to the worry of the landlord randomly letting themselves in I'd argue that's interference with quiet enjoyment.
That’s obviously a very personal take. Are you really worried that a Landlord would let themselves in? I have a very good relationship with all my Tenants. They have no problem with me holding keys and it’s proved to be very handy when they’ve locked themselves out. I would never enter someone’s home without their express permission or if I need to gain access for repairs etc then I would give them a minimum of 24hrs notice.
>Are you really worried that a Landlord would let themselves in?
The case where the tenant and landlord are the only one's who should have keys, and they come back to the door regularly being unlocked? (OPs case)
The most likely is that the landlord is letting themselves in, or they've given keys to other people/kept the locks with previous tenants.
Either way they can't be trusted with keys if I'm to enjoy my place.
> I have a very good relationship with all my Tenants
And that's great, but your tenant isn't complaining someone is randomly leaving their door unlocked.
My old landlord had a copy of my key, but I was under no obligation to give him it.
First, speak to the landlord. There may be a legitimate reason access was needed, though (I'm not an expert, but), surely you should have been informed?
There are many hidden camera options. Something non obvious, pointing at the door, motion activated. There's probably even an app you could install on an old phone.There would be no privacy issues AFAIK, as anyone activating it shouldn't be there.
Consider changing the lock. If you replace it with something identical, the only person who would find out would be the person who tried to access the room illegitimately. KEEP THE EXISTING LOCK! to switch back if you move or in case the landlord somehow finds out. Something identical should be quick and easy to switch.
Yes don't be a cheap skate and rent your own apartment 😀