Locked out as a tenant: who pays, and what your landlord may not do

Renting changes a lockout from a practical problem into a contractual one. Two completely different situations get confused constantly, and they have opposite answers.

The question that decides who pays

Not “who called the locksmith”. Why is the door shut?

The lock or door failed → normally the landlord

Where the lock has broken through ordinary wear and tear, the mechanism has seized, the door has dropped, or the key has snapped in a worn barrel, this falls under the landlord’s repairing obligations. Under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, landlords are responsible for keeping the structure and exterior of the property in repair, and external doors and their locks are part of that.

Practical translation: a lock that failed on its own is a repair, and repairs are the landlord’s job.

You lost the keys, or shut them inside → normally you

If the lock works perfectly and the problem is that the keys are on the kitchen table, that is not a repair. Expect to pay, and expect it to be reasonable to pay.

Grey areas exist, and the tenancy agreement usually settles them

A key that snapped could be a worn lock or a bent key. A uPVC door that will not latch could be a failing mechanism or a misaligned door nobody reported for a year. Read your agreement — many spell out lockouts explicitly, and some make you liable for work you arranged without asking first.

What to do, in order, before you ring a locksmith

1. Ring the landlord or letting agent first. Every time.

Even at 3am, even assuming nobody will answer. Three reasons:

• They may hold a spare set, which is free and immediate.
• Many agents have an out-of-hours contractor already on arrangement, at a better rate than you will get cold at 2am.
• If it turns out to be their repair, you need to have asked. Commissioning your own locksmith and presenting the invoice afterwards is exactly how these disputes start.

2. Leave a voicemail or send a text, even if they do not pick up.

This is the part people skip and later regret. A timestamped message saying you are locked out, what appears to be wrong, and that you are asking them to arrange a repair is evidence that you tried. It costs nothing and it changes the conversation later.

3. If you must act yourself, keep it modest and documented.

Get the total in writing before anyone travels, use a locksmith you actually checked, keep the invoice, and photograph the failed lock before it is removed. See what a lockout should cost and how to check a locksmith is genuine.

Recovering the money

If it was a genuine repair, put the claim in writing — email, not a phone call — with the invoice, the photographs and your earlier message asking them to sort it. Ask for reimbursement or an agreed deduction from rent.

Do not simply stop paying rent, and do not deduct money unilaterally. There is a formal “repair and deduct” process in England with specific steps that must be followed in a specific order. Getting it wrong can put you in arrears and at risk of eviction. Take advice from Shelter or Citizens Advice before going down that road.

Can you change the locks yourself?

Usually yes in practice, but with two important caveats.

Most tenancy agreements either forbid it or require you to provide the landlord with a key. And at the end of the tenancy you will normally be expected to restore the original lock — a changed barrel left behind is a routine deposit deduction.

The sensible route is to ask in writing first. If you have a genuine safety reason — an ex-partner with keys, a previous tenant who never returned a set — say so plainly. Most landlords agree quickly when the reason is real, and now you have it in writing.

Worth knowing: unless the tenancy says otherwise, a landlord generally may not enter without your permission, and must give at least 24 hours’ written notice for access, except in a genuine emergency.

If the landlord locked you out deliberately

This is a different subject entirely.

Under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977, it is a criminal offence in England and Wales to unlawfully evict or harass a residential occupier. Changing the locks to keep a tenant out, removing their possessions, or cutting off services to force them to leave can all fall under it.

Almost all tenants must be given proper notice and, if they do not leave, a court order — a landlord cannot simply take back possession themselves.

What to do:

1. Do not force entry and do not fight on the doorstep. You are building a case; do not hand them one.
2. Call the police on 101, or 999 if there is a threat of violence or your possessions are being removed. Ask for the incident number.
3. Contact your local council’s tenancy relations or housing options team. Councils have officers specifically for illegal eviction, and they can act quickly — sometimes with a single phone call to the landlord.
4. Ring Shelter’s emergency helpline on 0808 800 4444. They deal with this daily and will tell you what your council should be doing.
5. Write everything down — times, what was said, photographs, the names of anyone present, and your own text messages.

Illegal eviction is one of the few housing problems where the law is genuinely on the tenant’s side and moves quickly. Use it.

The short version

• Lock broke by itself → landlord’s repair. Ask them first, in writing.
• You lost your keys → your bill. Get a total in writing before anyone travels.
• Landlord changed the locks on you → criminal offence. Council, Shelter, police, and write it all down.