Can our tenants legally change the entry locks without our permission? Can they withhold a key if they do change the locks?
Question
Entry and Refusal (England) | Tenant Obligations (England)
Tenants Change the locks?
Answer
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1 Comment
A tenant has the right to exclude all persons including the landlord. However, that may be a breach of the tenancy, depending on the terms.
Whether they can change the locks depends on the terms of the tenancy. If the tenancy prohibits changing locks, it will be a breach of the tenancy.
In reality though, even if they do so in breach, enforcing it can be difficult. If it’s causing a problem in some way, the easiest solution would be to serve a section 21 notice giving no reason. That way you’re not arguing about why you’ve given notice.