Who pays for lost keys, and can a tenant change the locks?

In England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, lock-and-key disputes usually turn on possession, the tenancy terms and each nation’s fees rules rather than a single UK-wide “locks law”. The dangerous mistake is treating missing keys as permission to exclude someone who may still be living there.

Do landlords have to change the locks between tenants?

Landlords in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland do not have a statutory duty to change the locks or keys every time a new tenant comes in, but changing them is often the safer handover practice where old keys may still be in circulation. The legal line is different from the practical one: no identified housing statute in the four nations imposes a routine between-tenancies lock change, and the clearest market summary is that “There is no single law that says ‘a landlord must change the locks between every tenancy’.” If the previous occupier has definitely left, re-keying before the next tenancy is usually a risk-control cost; Checkatrade’s 2026 guide puts a typical Yale lock change at about £100 and a standard uPVC lock at about £125. What a landlord must not do is use a lock change as eviction: in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, excluding a residential occupier who may still reside there is a criminal offence.

What happens if a tenant loses their keys?

If a tenant loses their keys, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland apply four different cost rules: England allows evidenced reasonably incurred default costs, Wales limits the charge to actual invoiced cost, Scotland has no English-style lost-key fee schedule, and Northern Ireland has no statutory cap but does require receipts for relevant payments. In England, the Tenant Fees Act 2019 permits a lost-key default payment only so far as it does not exceed the landlord’s or agent’s costs, so a letting agent dealing with the only set of keys out of hours should keep the locksmith invoice and charge only the evidenced reasonable cost. Abodient can hold that locksmith invoice as a document against the tenancy, so the evidenced cost is on file if the charge is ever challenged. In Wales, the prescribed limit is “the amount equal to the actual cost” of replacement, change, addition or removal. In Scotland, the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 imports the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984 premium-ban regime, so do not assume the English recharge model applies. In Northern Ireland, the practical rule is to receipt the payment; no statutory lost-key cap is published.

Can a tenant change the locks without the landlord's permission?

A tenant can physically change the locks, but whether doing so is allowed depends mainly on the tenancy terms in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and the landlord must not answer an unauthorised lock change by locking the tenant out. The useful distinction is between security and breach: a tenant may have an urgent reason to change locks after a lost key, break-in or domestic risk, but if the agreement requires consent or requires the landlord to hold access keys, changing locks without permission may be a contractual breach. In England, breach of a non-rent tenancy obligation is a discretionary possession ground because Ground 12 covers where “Any obligation of the tenancy…has been broken or not performed.” In Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, use the nation’s own possession route rather than self-help. Abodient can hold the lease record and access terms against each letting period, which matters because the answer often turns on the exact lock-change clause, not a general rule.

What can you do if a tenant will not hand the keys back?

A landlord who simply re-keys because a tenant will not hand keys back commits a criminal self-help eviction offence in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland if the tenant might still be living there; the lawful route is a court order, eviction order or warrant of possession. In England and Wales, the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 makes it an offence to unlawfully deprive a residential occupier of occupation unless the landlord reasonably believed they had ceased to reside there, and in England a tenant who stays beyond a possession order can be removed only after the landlord applies for a warrant of possession. In Scotland, the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984 contains the same criminal exclusion offence, and a private residential tenancy requires an eviction order from the First-tier Tribunal. In Northern Ireland, the Rent Order says an owner cannot enforce recovery of possession except through court proceedings. Deposit deductions may cover evidenced lock costs after possession is recovered; one mydeposits case awarded a £90 invoiced lock-and-key replacement.

Last reviewed August 2026.

Sources

• Locksmith Local, “Changing locks between tenancies” — “There is no single law that says "a landlord must change the locks between every tenancy".” Source
• Checkatrade, “Locksmith prices” — “Changing a Yale lock typically costs around £100, while changing a standard uPVC lock averages around £125.” Source
• Protection from Eviction Act 1977 s.1 — “If any person unlawfully deprives the residential occupier of any premises of his occupation of the premises or any part thereof, or attempts to do so, he shall be guilty of an offence unless he proves that he believed, and had reasonable cause to believe, that the residential occupier had ceased to reside in the premises.” Source
• Rent (Scotland) Act 1984 s.22 — “If any person unlawfully deprives the residential occupier of any premises of his occupation of the premises or any part thereof or attempts to do so he shall be guilty of an offence unless he proves that he believed, and had reasonable cause to believe, that the residential occupier had ceased to reside in the premises.” Source
• Rent (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 art.54 — “54.—(1) If any person unlawfully deprives the tenant of a dwelling-house of his occupation of the dwelling-house or any part thereof or attempts to do so he shall be guilty of an offence unless he proves that he believed, and had reasonable cause to believe, that the tenant had ceased to reside in the dwelling-house.” Source
• Tenant Fees Act 2019 Sch.1 para.4 — “(3)If, in the case of a payment required to be made to a landlord or letting agent in respect of a relevant default within sub-paragraph (2)(a), the amount of the payment exceeds the costs which—” Source
• Renting Homes (Fees etc.) (Prescribed Limits of Default Payments) (Wales) Regulations 2020 reg.4 — “The prescribed limit in respect of the descriptions of default payments specified in regulation 3 is the amount equal to the actual cost of the replacement, change, addition or removal.” Source
• Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 s.20 — “Sections 82, 83 and 86 to 90 of the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984 apply in relation to a private residential tenancy as they apply in relation to a tenancy of the kind to which those sections refer.” Source
• Private Tenancies Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 art.5 — “The landlord must provide the tenant with a written receipt for the payment stating—” Source
• Housing Act 1988 Sch.2 Ground 12 — “Any obligation of the tenancy (other than one related to the payment of rent) has been broken or not performed.” Source
• GOV.UK, “Private renting evictions” — “If you do not leave your home by the date given in a possession order, your landlord can apply to the court for a 'warrant of possession'.” Source
• Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 s.51 — “The First-tier Tribunal is to issue an eviction order against the tenant under a private residential tenancy if, on an application by the landlord, it finds that one of the eviction grounds named in schedule 3 applies.” Source
• Rent (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 art.56 — “it shall not be lawful for the owner to enforce against the occupier, otherwise than in pursuance of proceedings in the court, his right to recover possession of the premises” Source
• mydeposits, “Lock replacement” — “An invoice was provided for £90.00 to show the costs incurred for replacing the lock and keys.” Source