For a landlord, the lock is where security and the law meet — and getting the timing wrong is one of the most expensive mistakes in residential letting. Change the locks at the right moment and you protect the property and the next tenant. Change them at the wrong moment and you have committed a criminal offence, however justified you felt. This guide explains, in plain English, when a landlord can and cannot change the locks, the lawful route to recovering possession, and the point at which calling a locksmith is exactly the right thing to do.
This is general guidance for landlords, not legal advice. Housing law is detailed and changes; for a specific situation, take advice from a solicitor or your local council before acting.
The single most important thing a landlord can know is this: while a tenancy is live and the tenant is in lawful occupation, you cannot change the locks to keep them out — not for rent arrears, not for a breach of the agreement, not even after you have served notice. Doing so is an illegal eviction, a criminal offence under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. The same Act makes harassment — anything done to pressure a tenant into leaving — a separate offence.
This catches out well-meaning landlords every year. The classic case is the frustrated owner who changes the locks while the tenant is out at work, believing the tenancy has effectively ended. It has not, and the consequences are serious: councils prosecute these “self-help” evictions, the penalties can include heavy fines and even imprisonment, and the tenant can claim damages and be reinstated. Every tenant has an implied right to “quiet enjoyment” of the home — the right to live there undisturbed — and it applies whether or not it is written into the agreement.
If you need a tenant to leave and they will not go voluntarily, there is one lawful path, and it runs through the courts — never through the locksmith. In England and Wales the steps are:
One point trips up even experienced landlords: a possession order on its own does not let you change the locks. The order entitles you to possession, but only the bailiffs’ enforcement of the warrant actually gives it to you. Until that has happened, the property is still the tenant’s in the eyes of the law, and changing the locks is still illegal. Wait for the warrant.
None of this means a landlord can never touch the locks — the point is timing. You are on firm ground to change the locks when:
A word of caution about “abandonment.” If a tenant appears to have left but you are not certain, do not assume. Treat a property as abandoned too quickly and you are back in illegal-eviction territory. And if a departing tenant leaves belongings behind, you cannot simply bin them — the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977 requires you to give reasonable notice before disposing of them.
One genuine exception is worth knowing. A lodger — someone who lives in your own home and shares living space with you — is an “excluded occupier” and does not have the same protection. A lodger can usually be asked to leave on reasonable notice without a court order, provided you use no force or threats and respect their belongings. The danger runs both ways: treat a full tenant as a lodger and remove them on notice, and you have broken the law; treat a lodger as a tenant and you may wait months longer than you need to. If you are unsure which arrangement you have, get advice.
Landlords with houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) or blocks of flats have an extra layer to think about, because security has to be balanced against fire safety. Bedroom and flat doors must keep tenants secure, but escape routes must let people out fast: the main escape door of a block and internal escape doors must never need a key to open from the inside, which is why thumb-turn cylinders are fitted on them. A door that is a sound security choice in a private house can be a fire-safety failure in an HMO, and inspections do fail on non-compliant locking hardware.
This is where a master key system earns its place. It gives the landlord or manager a single key that opens every door in the building, while each tenant’s key opens only their own — the tidiest way to balance tenant privacy with the landlord’s need for emergency and maintenance access across a portfolio. It also makes the between-tenancy lock change simpler: re-pin one tenant’s cylinder rather than re-key the whole building.
A named, vetted master locksmith covers your area — no call-out fee.
Used at the right moment, a locksmith is the landlord’s ally, not a shortcut around the law. Once an eviction has been lawfully enforced, a good locksmith will re-secure the property quickly and, wherever possible, with non-destructive entry — preserving the door and frame so you are not paying for repairs on top. The same applies between tenancies and across a managed portfolio: fresh cylinders, keyed-alike or master-keyed suites, and lock standards that keep both your insurance and your fire-safety obligations satisfied. We work alongside landlords, agents and enforcement officers to secure properties the moment the legal process is complete — which is exactly when, and only when, the locks should change.
More than doors and key cutting: the real week of a working locksmith, the three lanes of the trade, when to call one — and the unregulated-industry fact most people don't know.
When you need the experts, our trusted local locksmiths are only a postcode search away.
Search from the last certain moment, sweep in zones, check the strange-but-true regulars — and the 24-hour rule that turns a lost-keys hunt into a security decision.
Coming home to a break-in is frightening and disorienting. Here's the calm, ordered sequence — staying safe, calling the police, the crime reference number, documenting the scene, insurance, and securing your home again — from the locksmiths who attend the aftermath.