“How much does it cost to change the locks on a rental property?” is one of the most common questions landlords ask — usually when a tenancy is ending and the clock is ticking. The honest answer is “it depends on the door and the lock”, but that is not very useful on its own. This guide gives you the real cost factors, sensible UK ranges, and the choices that make the difference between a cheap job and an expensive one.
The ranges below are general UK guidance to help you budget. We always give a fixed price before any work and never charge a call-out fee — so you know the cost upfront, not after.
Three things decide what a lock change costs on a rental:
As a rough guide for a rental changeover (labour and parts, no call-out fee):
Out-of-hours or emergency call-outs cost more — but a planned between-tenancy change should never need to be an emergency. Book it into the void and it stays at the standard rate.
The biggest saving is choosing re-keying over replacement when the existing lock is sound. On most modern doors, the euro cylinder is the only part that needs to change to lock out old keys — the handles, mechanism and door furniture stay. Paying to replace a perfectly good lockset when a cylinder swap would do is money wasted, and a good locksmith will say so.
The second saving is doing doors together. One visit covering front, back and any side door — keyed alike so the tenant carries one key — costs far less than three separate call-outs.
The cheapest cylinder is a false saving on a let. A non-anti-snap cylinder can be defeated in seconds, and if it falls below your insurer’s requirement a claim can be refused. The small extra for a TS007 3-star cylinder is the sensible spend.
Between tenancies, the lock change is part of preparing the property, so it is the landlord’s cost. During a tenancy, it depends on cause: a worn-out or faulty lock is the landlord’s responsibility, while keys lost by the tenant are usually charged to the tenant. Our guide to landlord lock and security responsibilities sets out the dividing line.
Weigh the modest cost of a lock change against the alternative: an incoming tenant burgled by someone holding an old key, a refused insurance claim because the locks were below standard, or a dispute over a property that was never properly secured. A between-tenancy change is one of the cheapest pieces of risk management a landlord buys.
A named, vetted master locksmith covers your area — no call-out fee.
We give landlords a fixed price before any work, with no call-out fee, and we will tell you honestly whether a cylinder swap or a full replacement is the right call for each door. For portfolios we can keep your key plan on file and handle changeovers to a schedule. See our landlord locksmith services and our guide to changing locks between tenancies, or find your local locksmith for a quote.
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If the job is past a DIY fix, our local locksmith services can help — find the locksmith covering your area.
What BS3621 and TS007 3-star actually mean, which doors need which standard, the window-lock requirement, and how to check your rental is compliant rather than quietly leaving your cover at risk.
A practical end-of-tenancy security checklist for landlords and agents: change the locks, check the standard, test windows, account for keys, secure outbuildings, revoke communal access and check fire safety.