Who is responsible for paying for a lock on HMO bedroom door?

Hi Rachel,

If it is on separate individual tenancy agreements then there is an obligation for the Landlord to provide door locks.

However if it is one joint tenancy then I don't think there is an obligation, but it does then make it difficult with regard to contents insurance and you would likely have to claim against the landlord if there were no locks so it would make sense to provide them.

Hi Neil,
many thanks for your reply.

I can confirm that it will be on a separate individual tenancy.

If the landlord agrees to fit a lock, who's responsibility is it to pay for the lock? The landlord or me?

At present he is asking me to pay for it and remove it when I leave.

I personally feel it should be the landlord but I am unclear of his obligationsurvey

Thanks
Rachel

Hi Rachel,

I am not an expert on HMO rules but I believe the landlord should

Hi,

I’m no expert on the matter, although suspect it a little bit of a grey area and likely that would be based on what was agreed at viewing, or prior to moving in.

Sounds like the Landlord made the position clear at the time and so you need to decide if you find this approach and cost agreeable to take the room.

I wouldn’t think there would be any merits in getting into a debate over this with the Landlord as would likely cause bad blood during the tenancy which wouldn’t benefit anyone.

There are insurance companies that will accept no lock, although maybe not as many as with a lock.

Reply to the comment left by "Neil Patterson" at "16/05/2017 - 11:25":

To comply with the fire regs of an HMO any lock on the door must be a 'thumb lock' - so it would be in the landlord's interests to do this himself - if not he must ensure that they do not lock themselves in at night.

Hi Rachael we rent houses with separate rooms on individual tenancies. We absolutely provide locks on doors at our own cost. If you were a daughter of mine I would strongly advise you not to take a room in a house with no locks on doors. For me this would be as much about your personal security and safety as an insurance issue.

I wouldn't take on anyone I thought would be a danger to other tenants - and tenants had to lock their doors for their personal safety - a laptop is one thing, fear for your safety is quite different - daughter or anyone else's daughter. If you think you have to lock the door to be safe, find another house share. If this house has operated without locks it sounds a nicer place than one where you have to lock everything up. Maybe HMO's have become the old bedsits where everyone was insular.

Because tennants with individual tennancies cannot control who comes into a property (including other tenants, friends of other tenants and people doing work) my judgement is the ability to lock a bedroom door is essential particularly for young women.

If the landlord is so mean as to expect you to pay for the lock and to remove it (why? leave it unlocked if he does not want a lock!) I would be very wary of becoming his tenant. He will probably not want to spend a penny on maintenance and repairs that are his responsibility.

Reply to the comment left by "Ian Narbeth" at "16/05/2017 - 13:56":

A very fair point - and if you are anxious about your security, this is not a great combination - maybe ask him/her why he has no locks, when one of mine was inspected for a license I had regular interior door locks (not yale) on the door as it had been when it was our private residents, art deco doors with matching locks for which we still had all keys, the inspector was sensible enough to see that we wouldn't want to spoil the doors by putting on ugly old locks so the compromise was to leave those on and they must not lock the doors and themselves in at night. There are 9 of them in this house in 9 separate rooms. If I'm ever asked about a yale type lock I suggest that the house is not for them if they have an issue with their housemates - all on separate contracts and none known to each other before moving in, but they have to be confident if they are sharing a house and facilities with each other, as you are in an HMO, it's as easy to steal a lap top/wallet from the dining table - it doesn't need to be in anyone's room and worrying about your belongings is not the way to live - same applies to 'your daughter'. It could be a mean landlord, it could be one who just doesn't want his doors spoiled by a lock of his integrity called into question. Some of us march to a different beat.