To think that this was a bloody stupid thing to do.

[Koothrapanties]

I have just moved into a new property owned by a housing association. When we moved in they didn't have enough keys to give both me and dh one each. We were told they would get in touch when a new one had come in.

Today I received an envelope in the post with the key in it. Obviously it was sent to the adress the key was for with a helpful note saying:

"Dear Mr and Mrs Koothrapanties,

I have enclosed the spare front door key that was on order when you moved into the property. We appologise that it was not available when you moved in.

Kind regards,

Housing association employee."

Seriously?? How can you be that stupid?!

Oh I forgot about my gold plated diamond encrusted Gucci designed 500 inch flat screen tv.

Of course you forgot. You don't have it anymore...

Nannyogg

but following , maybe most people who move from 6 month let to 6 month let don't have the cash to keep changing the locks "just in case" - that's if the LL would even allow them to change them!

I think I would be so happy to have a reasonable rent and no fear of landlords being able to ask me to leave with 2 months notice that I probably wouldn't have minded.

it wasn't a great idea, but really, to complain?? Nothing has actually happened.

If you want to be helpful, you could write a friendly note thanking them for the key and suggesting that they use a different method in future.

Very stupid of them. At the very least it should have been in a jiffy bag with no identifying info; better still, recorded delivery or collect from their office.

Oh believe me I am more grateful than you could know for our home. Dh and I were homeless after a fire ruined our first home and everything in it and they gave us the flat we just moved from, and now moved us to this property. I appreciate it very very much!! I really do know how lucky we are.

I wasn't planning on complaining, but I might mention it next time I see our housing officer.

Please mention it. If one of my team did that with a customer's key, there would be an investigation, as it would breach our keyholding policy. If we send keys by post (and we try not to unless no other choice), we ask the customer to nominate an away-address (eg workplace) and send it Special Delivery in a padded bag.

Either someone's broken policy or the HA doesn't have one and needs your constructive feedback to point out the dangers of what they're currently doing.

All my tenancies (and there have been a fair few) have come with just 1 key for each lock and spares/duplicates were the responsibility of the tenant. It seems really abnormal to me that people would have a key in their possession and rather than going to get one cut, they'd wait for someone else with an undetermined level of common sense to get one to them.

Not a dig at the OP by the way, just really strange to me.

I am actually a burglaress. been at it for fifteen years, no what I mean. sniff.
we have a plant in the local sortin office. no what I mean. sniff.

yeah , we look out for unpadded, non jiffy, letters wiff keys and addresses.

no what I mean. sniff.

hehheh. we made a fortune we have. neerly six quid in twenty five years.

sniff.

That was very silly! They could have at least put it in a padded envelope so it wasn't obvious. I'm sure thats what they did when the council sent us a key for the alleyway gate.

Because no postal employee has ever stolen anything from an envolope they are handling.

I think that it was quite a daft 'oversight' by the HA but to be honest I wonder when you move into a HA property do they actually always change the locks? if not then anyone could have a key, you only have to give 2?? keys back and most families with teens have more than just 2 keys cut no??

Koothrapanties Sorry forgot to say I wish you well in your new abode and am sorry to hear that you lost everything in a fire I hope you will have a long and luckier life and you can put that terrible fire behind you xx

Jolleigh not everyone has that freedom. We have just signed a new TA which contains a written clause that we must not make copies of the keys. We were given one full set and one partial and the letting agent has to liaise with our new LL to get the remainder to complete the second set.

Good luck in your new, fortunately-unburgled home, OP. Definitely let the HA know that a change of policy is needed - the next new tenant might not have such an honest postman!

Seriously?

In what kind of world are you living where yoh EXPECT royal mail employees to 1)open your post randomly and 2) rob your bouse.

A little perspective please!

Horrid old housing association. How dare they give you good quality subsided affordable housing that is well maintained and then send you keys.
Most landlords would have told you to get off your arse walk to the key shop and pay for it yourself.
FFS.

Dolomites - Unfortunately the real one. Things are often stolen / go missing from the post - it's one of the most vulnerable areas of your life where identity theft is concerned.
It's not necessarily postal workers but other people intercepting post. Royal Mail itself warn of the possibility of it as do Experian, EBay and various consumer fraud associations.
The vast majority of post is fine but it's a matter of reducing risk. I'm sure that insurance companies would have a dim view of this approach as it's not a very secure method.

My builder told me that all post gets nicked because all the people in the sorting offices are "Polishes and Nigerians innit" and that the Daily Mail did an expose. They get the jobs and then sell it all on Ebay.
So, to follow on from that line of thinking, your house will be quite safe because, according to the same paper, all them Polishes and Nigerians have their own local authority housing that is bigger and better than those given to the hard pushed white working classes. So nothing to worry about then.

This is tongue in cheek just in case anyone breaks their pearls.

Those of you saying OP should get her own depending on the type of key it might not be possible to just for the OP to make a copy. The key for the street door to the flat I live in can't be copied. Only new keys are issued by the original locksmith who will ask for proof any one asking is entitled to have one.

The street door on one of my rental flats needs an electronic fob issued by a security company who require proof of ownership. My tenant could not get her own copy.