What can I do about security in a rented home?

Renting does not have to mean accepting whatever the last tenant left behind, but it does mean two separate conversations: the things you are entitled to ask for, and the things you can simply do. Getting the first one in writing protects your deposit, and the second list is longer than most tenants expect.

Step by step

1. Read the tenancy agreement on alterations and locks.Most agreements prohibit changing locks or making alterations without written consent, and require the property to be returned as it was. That is the boundary you are working inside.
2. Ask, in writing, for what needs consent.An email creates the record. Reasonable asks: a tested cylinder on the front door, working window locks, a door viewer, a chain or restrictor, a working alarm, and outdoor lighting. Explain the reason plainly.
3. Ask specifically whether the locks were changed at the start of your tenancy.Previous tenants, their friends and old letting agents may all have keys. A cylinder change between tenancies is cheap and it is a fair thing to request, in writing.
4. Do not change a lock unilaterally.Even with good reason, changing locks without consent can breach the tenancy and can cost you the deposit. The exception people ask about is domestic abuse — that is a situation to take to the police, a specialist support service or the council rather than to the toolbox.
5. Offer to pay and to leave it behind.Landlords say yes far more often when the answer costs them nothing and improves the property. Keep the original cylinder and hardware in a labelled bag so everything can be reversed at the end.
6. Fit the things that need no permission.Battery door and window alarms with adhesive contacts, a portable door brace or travel lock for the bedroom, plug-in timers for lamps, a doorstop alarm, and a safe or lockable box for documents.
7. Use a camera you own and can remove.A plug-in indoor camera or a battery doorbell fixed with adhesive mounts leaves no holes. Point it at your own space, and if it sees the shared hallway or the street, treat the data-protection obligations as yours.
8. Deal with the communal door if you are in a flat.Report a broken entry door, a propped fire door or a failing intercom to the managing agent in writing every time. A repeatedly propped communal door is the single largest weakness in most blocks and it is a management issue.
9. Sort out your own contents insurance.The landlord's policy covers the building, not your things. Check what it says about lock standards, because that clause applies to you whether or not you chose the lock — and it is a good lever for asking for an upgrade.
10. Cover the behaviour, which is free.Keys never hidden outside, valuables not visible through a ground-floor window, deliveries not left on the step for days, and the door actually locked with the handle lifted and the key turned.

Tips

• Photograph the locks and hardware when you move in. It settles arguments about what you changed and it records what standard you were given.
• Command-strip and clamp-on products have improved a lot. A great deal of practical security is now genuinely tenant-friendly.
• If the landlord refuses a reasonable safety request and something is actually defective, your council's environmental health team is the escalation route.

Common mistakes

• Changing the barrel quietly and putting the old one back at the end — It usually breaches the agreement, and if anything goes wrong in the meantime — a locksmith call, an insurance claim, an emergency access — the unauthorised change becomes the problem.
• Assuming the landlord changed the locks between tenancies — Many do not, because it is not legally required. Ask directly, and get the answer in writing.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask