front door has to be locked with a key

[NoahVale]

we had a new lock fitted, since the spring was broken and it had broken in the past.
they didnt have correct fitting but did use the one they had, it is obviously not intended for a front door, it is white for a start

but mainly you need to lock it with a key. DD noticed, luckily. Otherwise we were unaware. You can let yourself in from the outside.
We dont like this.
Obviously it means to go out you have to physically lock the door, not a bad idea since it ensures you never go out without a key. but we arent used to this and when we are home in the day/evening we would also have to physically lock, from the inside.
I complained that it wasnt safe as i think in a fire/emergency you would have to find your key to get out of the house.
AIBU

I loathe these type of locks and will never live in a house with one. Our current door has both a Yale lock and a deadlock - still only one lock to do on your way out, but can't be opened from outside without a key, and has the security of deadlocking - best of all worlds!

Pretty standard now and preferred by insurance company's as it's normally also a 5lever mortise lock. I lock up and put my keys in the candle holder which you have to pass to get to the front door. I remember the old Yale locks from then I was little and wouldn't say they where safer. If you've still got a proper wooden door where the only point of locking is just where the actual handle is then it's not any worse or better than the old Yale ones.

YANBU - its a complete pain in the arse, and I worry about fire too. Fortunately we have a wooden door so DP simply fitted amyale type lock in addition.

Our door is like this. We leave the key in the lock unless someone is coming home late at night then we hang it on the hook for the security chain.
Our door is metal (made to look like wood)and you cannot see or get your hand through the letterbox. Also the key is quite tight in the lock so wouldn't be easy to remove from outside with a wire/hook.

I feel safer knowing that the key is close to hand should we ever need it in an emergency!

That's brilliant advice Lonecat

I had this when living in a bedsit - it was annoying. The amount of times I went to bed without locking the door was crazy. Living on my own I only had myself to blame but when you live with others you have to trust them to lock up. I use to have a hook next to the door to hang up the key.

I've never lived in a property with that sort of lock since, not intentionally, properties I have rented just tend to have yale and deadlocks

Sounds like this is a plastic door. I greatly prefer wooden ones.

We only lock the door at night or if we are upstairs, otherwise it's unlocked.

wish my front door was like this. All the other forms round here are like that. it's a pain in the bum.

I just keepbkeys in my pocket. Dc with sn escaping and getting run over is my greatest concern.

We'e had both and I much prefer the mortice - you cant lock yourself out for a start. Apparently many Yale type locks can have their cylinders snapped by burglars in seconds, so unless you have one of the very latest snap-proof sort, they offer very little security.

Just leave the mortice key nearby...

I can see it is an even bigger pain thinking about the teens going in and out of the house and not locking the door, but I am not sure Housing Association will pay much attention to me there.

my dd so far thinks its great that she can get in without needing a key!

Ye gods!

Locks that use keys to lock and unlock, 2.5 thousand years old.

Yale locks 150 years old.

Human ability to remember to use a key, what? Milliseconds?

As some have already said, a yale lock is not accepted by most insurance companies. Anyone can simply buy a £20 set of keys and open any yale or similar lock - scare yourself by Googling 'snake keys'

You will get used to it. Blaming feckless kids isn't an excuse. You all just need to get used to using proper locks.

Our doors are wooden and have locks. We keep our front door locked as we don't use it but when we are in the back door is kept unlocked so we can come and go. If you have small kids lock it and keep a key nearby. Older kids who are coming and going get their own key.

We have 2 front doors, the porch door has a Yale type lock and the inner porch door has a deadbolt lock I don't lock this at night but we have a bolt across the bottom which we put across so in an emergency don need to look for a key but door is secure so no one can get in.
(Yale door is really easy to break into by putting a stick through the letter box and pulling the catch down as I found out when I locked myself out with baby DD inside the house !!)

We used to leave ours unlocked during the day when we were in.
When we had an attempted break-in (kitchen window smashed) the police visited, and let themselves in easily and quietly via the letterbox using a makeshift tool that burglars use to tip the handle.

I always keep it locked now!

put the key out of reach of the letterbox but in reach of the door. There will be somewhere, if not put up a hook.

if the residents are too stupid or too pissed to lock doors on leaving, sort that out.

this arrangement means that a door cannot blow shut and lock you out, which used to happen in my old house when we opened other windows.

If you worry about locking yourself out, bury a key in the garden. You know where it is but it would be a bugger for a burglar to find.

Afraid I worry far less about being burgaled - porential loss of property, than fire - loss of life and property. (Ex also a Firefighter) you do also have to remember that you want to keep buglars out but the emergency sevices need to be able to get in in a readonasle time in event of fire or an accident.

It is also worth knowing that if you do not have them already the fire service will fit smoke detectors for free and gice you a fire safety visit.
It does not matter where your key is if you don't wake up!!

I don't leave the key in the lock because then another keyholder wouldn't be able to unlock it in an emergency. I leave it halfway up the stairs - which are the only exit, so in a fire I'd be passing them (or jumping out of a window!)

You know this is why older houses used to have a tiny cupboard on the hall wall, don't you? For the keys.

Having been burgled I am afraid I have no sympathy OP!!

You have to train yourself and DC to lock themselves in and out properly.

It isn't about the "stuff" you lose it's about your sense of safety that is lost when burgled. I am always amazed when I hear that people leave their doors unlocked when they are at home - so many people are burgled and worse this way. A neighbour has recently been burgled, and punched in the face whilst at home and the insurance have refused to pay her.

It's not really worth paying for insurance if you are going to leave your doors open I suppose.

I keep keys near front and back doors but out of sight. We all know where they are and we have hard wired fire alarms throughout the house.

A yale lock is no security at all.

I am not grasping this being able to open from outside without a key thing. They can't if you lock it from the inside when you are in or the outside when you go out!

Most upvc doors have locks with keys to lock and unlock. Our door is always locked. We come in, lock it and remove the key. We go out we lock it and take a key. We all have our own keys and we have a spare on a hook by the door (well away from the letterbox) for when people knock and in case of fire.

You will get used to it.

This thread is bemusing. I've lived in everything from new build flats to Victorian terraces but I have never - to my knowledge - encountered a door which doesn't have to be locked with a key

Where people I know have had a Yale lock, they've always had a "proper" lock as well. The sort that insurance companies ask for.

Most people I know keep their keys hanging at the bottom of the stairs, or somewhere else safe but out of reach of the letterbox (even with a long hook). When you've grown up with this it's just habit. Certainly not a new thing

Yale locks are totally insecure, and also ridiculous because of the ability to lock yourself out.

When I was a student I had one on my door. In the whole year I only locked myself out once, but on that one occasion another student in the same halls of residence helped me get back in. He just slid his bank card in at the side of the door, around the door jam and bingo, door open in seconds. I was grateful to him for helping me, but horrified at hiw easy it was. He had been prone to locking himself out, so had practised on his own door.

So I don't get your issue here. You will get used to it, and a mortice lock, some even with an 8 point locking system, is way more secure. Best locks to have.