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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not want the front door to be double locked?

184 replies

Keke94LND · 07/09/2021 10:18

So I live in London on the ground floor of a terraced house, there are two other flats in the building and there is a sturdy front door to the building, and then obviously we all have our own front doors for our individual flats.

My boyfriend and I never bother double locking the front door, but the neighbours always do, even if they just pop our for five minutes. I find it annoying, that the door is always double locked when I get in from work, especially as it is getting darker now, mainly because having to unlock the door twice adds an extra 10-15 seconds onto opening the door and, especially as you have to bend down to unlock the second lock, I'm paranoid about getting mugged or attacked from behind. I'd like to be able to get into the building as quickly as possible without faffing about. My boyfriend also has an expensive bike that could easily be stolen whilst he's faffing about unlocking the door.

On one hand I understand that the neighbours do it for extra protection to stop burglaries, but on the the other hand I think the risk of being mugged/attacked is actually higher, especially as the front door is very sturdy anyway and would be pretty hard to break into, plus we all have extra front doors as well.. so AIBU?

OP posts:
GetOffTheTableMabel · 07/09/2021 11:12

@takehomepay

Is it possible their home insurance could be void if they don't lock both locks?
It is absolutely possible. It would be a standard clause in any home insurance policy that both the locks should be used. If you read the full text of your own contents insurance policy @Keke94LND you will almost certainly find that if you were burgled, your insurance company would not pay out on your claim, That is a risk you may be prepared to take but you are being extremely unreasonable to invalidate your neighbours’ insurance.
ablutiions · 07/09/2021 11:12

I used to live in this set up in my 1st flat.

Burglars came one day in broad daylight and opened both Yale locked doors in moments. The insurance man told me that a Yale lock on its own is as good as an unlocked door to a standard professional burglar.

Use the 5lever mortise lock every times as his advice, which I've taken every time since.

Original poster
Keke94LND · 07/09/2021 11:13

@Balonzette

It's actually really selfish of you to not lock it and put everyone at risk for the sake of 10 seconds.
It's not for the sake of 10 seconds, it's what can happen in the space of 10 seconds, if you ever get chased home you'll know what I mean, hopefully you don't though
OP posts:
RedMarauder · 07/09/2021 11:15

@Sparechange

I also live quite close to where Sarah Everard was abducted (although that case is not a good example of the safety of the area, but that’s an aside…) so I assume we are in similar areas

If so, the statistical chance of a random attack while unlocking your door is much, much lower than the chance of being burgled

So it makes much more sense from a crime prevention standpoint to be double locking the door

The one and only time I’ve been burgled was when they got through the communal door which hadn’t been double locked, and then smashed, and I mean literally smashed, my front door down

The police said that burglars getting into flats are much more bold than with a house

Once they are past the communal door, they can take a sledgehammer to a flat door without anyone seeing, and be straight in
Where as if they did that to a door of a house in view of the pavement, they would be seen

So it really is important to double lock communal front doors, because they are potentially targeted more my burglars, because of the rich pickings of several flats once they are in

This has happened to people I know.

I also know people who have lived in top floor flats that once the burglar has got through the communal door, the burglar has broken through the communal roof hatch, then come through their ceilings leaving large holes and burgled them.

Original poster
Keke94LND · 07/09/2021 11:15

@takehomepay

Is it possible their home insurance could be void if they don't lock both locks?
Hadn't thought of this tbf, so that's possible for our neighbours.. as we rent we don't have insurance.. it's not written in our tenancy contract though
OP posts:
Sparechange · 07/09/2021 11:16

The insurance man told me that a Yale lock on its own is as good as an unlocked door to a standard professional burglar.

The locksmith who fixed my flat after I was burgled said the same thing

He showed me how to slip a Yale lock. It literally took seconds with a bit of plastic a bit like a credit card
He said burglars cut up an empty coke bottle and can use it to slip the lock quicker than most people open their door with a key

When I moved to a house, I had the locks changed to Banham ones, which cost a fortune but they can’t be picked or slipped, and the keys can’t be copied so it was worth it for the peace of mind

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 07/09/2021 11:17

Yale locks can be popped so easily, deadlocks are essential.

ComtesseDeSpair · 07/09/2021 11:17

If your boyfriend has a very expensive bicycle (and even if he didn’t - presumably you own furniture, clothes, electrical goods and valuables) then you need contents insurance, particularly if you live on the ground floor and in a property with a communal entrance. What would you do if you were burgled?

PigletJohn · 07/09/2021 11:17

if the front door to the the building is insecure, a burglar can enter and then, out of sight, comfortably work on the doors to each flat, carrying his tools and loot to and fro, ready for a quick load up when he's finished.

Isabella70 · 07/09/2021 11:18

I don't understand why, when we use remote locking for almost everything else, houses still rely on physical keys. I know you can get these locks but they're a long way from being standard.

I presume there's a small difficulty with power supply/battery but is that all, or am I missing something?

sameproblem · 07/09/2021 11:18

Agree that a security camera doorbell would help with putting off anyone who might think of going for you on the doorstep. What about self defence classes so you would have some strategies to ward off anyone who threatened you?

ClaireEclair · 07/09/2021 11:19

We lived in a really nice part of London for years and we were broken into because our landlords never bothered to give any of us the key for the second lock. The burglars easily got in through the main door and then smashed our front door down. It was awful and really traumatic. We demanded he got the keys sorted which he did thankfully. There were similar burglaries in the area the next few months, two in our street alone.

BungleandGeorge · 07/09/2021 11:19

Do you own the flat? You could get the door replaced with one with a proper 5 point lock and then there would be no need for 2 locks.
In my experience the individual doors inside the flat are not up to the specs that would be required of a Door to the outside. If someone gets through the outside door it’s much easier to get into individual flats and there’s no ‘passers by’ to disturb them so I think your neighbours are right to want the building properly secured. The problem is the slightly bizarre lock system (presumably retrofitted?). If you pay a service charge would that cover replacement?

Simonjt · 07/09/2021 11:20

If someone is chasing you home you won’t be a to single unlock nevermind double, so while an awful thing to happen, a single lock wouldn’t prevent it.

I had a yale lock on my old flats communal door, they’re so easy to slip if I forgot my key I could get in as quickly as unlocking it.

Check your insurance, failing to lock the door may invalidate it, but more importantly it could possibly make you liable if you not locking the door voids the other tenants policies.

PigletJohn · 07/09/2021 11:20

@Keke94LND ".. as we rent we don't have insurance.. "

You don't have any possessions?

ThePluckOfTheCoward · 07/09/2021 11:21

YABU, just double lock the door. Have your keys ready in your hand as your approach your door, that way you know you have something in your hand you can use as a weapon if you are worried about being mugged, and I understand why you are, after I was mugged a minute from my front door in Shepherds Bush it took me ages to feel safe again. Anyway if you have the keys ready you are at least prepared.

BertramLacey · 07/09/2021 11:21

I don't live in an unsafe area, but it's a big city where anything could happen at any time

If anything could happen at any time, it's pretty much the definition of unsafe. I've lived in big cities where people have tried stealing my bike whilst I'm on it - it's unsafe. I would suggest some sort of compromise, e.g. door is double locked between 11 pm and 7 am. Or the bottom lock is made easier to access, or their is a safety light over the door, plus CCTV as a deterrent.

I get that it's unnerving and if you're near where Sarah Everard was murdered, you're also not that far from where Levi Bellfield used to attack women, and he did attack some women on driveways. But I think there are better ways of dealing with this - and relying on your separate front doors isn't the best idea. You really don't want to be opening your front door only to find someone's got in through the main door and is waiting outside.

Isabella70 · 07/09/2021 11:21

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor

Yale locks can be popped so easily, deadlocks are essential.
A friend gave me a set of lock picks last Christmas. With no practice at all I managed to open a Yale lock in about 3 seconds.
Palavah · 07/09/2021 11:22

I wouldn't consider it an unsafe area day to day, I've never been attacked here or anything, I don't feel particularly unsafe walking around, except perhaps late at night or when it's dark, but equally a boy was stabbed to death a couple weeks ago round the corner, Sarah Everard was abducted 10 minutes away, Etc

I live near you, then. Stabbings are generally gang-related. Sarah Everard was a very different type of crime. In neither scenario would they have been protected by not double - locking their front door.
If bikes are stolen while people are on them them 10-15 seconds won't make the difference.

You would be better off having a conversation with your neigbours and possibly your local PCSO about risk and mitigation. Lights, CCTV and other deterrents would probably be more helpful.

Nesbo · 07/09/2021 11:22

I think the issue is that you have, at the very front of your mind, the image of a situation where 10 seconds extra at the door (which could also happen if you drop your keys or the lock sticks a bit) is the difference between safety and disaster. You think that leaving that lock unlocked gives you power over that fear.

These are real feelings, but also not proportional ones.

ItsSnowJokes · 07/09/2021 11:22

Can you open both locks from inside without keys? If not your freeholder may he on breech of fire regulations. All locks in communal fire exits (like in flats) need to have a keyless exit. That could be the way to get them to change the locks.

Simonjt · 07/09/2021 11:22

@Keke94LND Why do you think renting means you don’t need insurance? Is your flat void of contents, or are you happy to pay to replace all of your belongings if you are burgled, have a flood, fire etc?

BungleandGeorge · 07/09/2021 11:23

Hadn't thought of this tbf, so that's possible for our neighbours.. as we rent we don't have insurance.. it's not written in our tenancy contract though

What about contents insurance for your personal belongings?

flibberyjibbery8 · 07/09/2021 11:23

I understand, but yes YABU and if I were your neighbour I'd be annoyed you weren't double locking the door and putting my flat at risk.

ThePluckOfTheCoward · 07/09/2021 11:23

A friend gave me a set of lock picks last Christmas. With no practice at all I managed to open a Yale lock in about 3 seconds.. Wow, that's scary.