To change the locks after the workmen are done?

[MaybeTomorrowItllBeOK]

Evening.

Asking here for the traffic.

Have just bought a new house.

For me #1 job was replace the locks.

But actually for the next week or so we have the option of leaving the workmen (getting some immediate work done while we stay elsewhere) a key so they can come and go and get the job done quicker while we aren't living there.

So I'm thinking to delay the locksmith until they're done? Right move do you think?

@MaybeTomorrowItllBeOK Kindly, you genuinely need to see someone about this paranoia, this is not healthy on any level. People are not plotting to enter your palace, I am almost certain of this!

You've just made that up, haven't you?

Quite. Must be awful to feel like this all the time

You do realise that 'burglars' don't use nor need keys, don't you!?

A friend of mine came back from holiday and a few days later bumped into her neighbour who cheerily informed her she had watered her plants for her while she was away - she had a key from the previous owner and genuinely thought she was doing her a favour! I would always change locks on moving

Ive never changed the locks when ive moved and dont know anyone who has either. Im in my 50s.
Weve never been burgled- touch wood! And never heard of anyone being burgled by previous house owners/or their key holders.
Wonder if this is an age thing with younger people a lot more anxious about risk.
Its a bit sad people are so suspicious and anxious nowadays. Still is it brings peace of mind then theres no harm.

Maybe.

All my neighbours who were burgled were elderly. I couldn't help them..One insisted on leaving the front door unlocked. One wouldn't change the lock to antibump/upgraded ones. One used to leave a set of keys in their unlocked car for safekeeping.

I'm a lot more uptight about risk. I therefore am not a burglars first choice on the street. And that's all you need to aim for really.

It’s not about being burgled.

it’s about ex owners with no qualms about letting themselves in to collect post, pick up something from the garden they forgot etc
its about neighbours thinking they will go in and water plants.

of course a burglar will get in without a key, but as this site has proven over the years there are enough cheeky fuckers out there with spare keys who’d think ‘well it won’t hurt’.

A friend of mine found the ex home owner letting themselves into her porch to take just delivered post. She’d probably got a front door key as well. Never underestimate the stupidity of other people.

I'd definitely change the locks

Oh no. The poor weak younglings.
If we are doing this age thing, maybe us younger ones are "mORe AnXIous" because the older generations lack healthy boundaries? It's not just UK btw. When we moved to new house in my native country, the 80 year old neighbour from few door dropped in to say hi. She unlocked the gate and front door because doorbell wasn't working 😂 As we have no families in UK we gave our lovely 60 year old neigbour keys for emergencies.. Of course she walked whole perimeter daily every time we left for holidays or even just weekend away, including checking bedrooms. We had no idea for 3 years. I don't always proper clean before leaving so it's a mess sometime...
My gradparents refuse to leave house empty for longer than an hour. Now that's being anxious.
But yeah. Us younglings are the issue🙈

On a serious note, no one realistically expects being burglered by previous occupants. But as shown many people simply don't have proper boundaries. Especially people who were doing something for decades, they don't see reason to stop.

I’ve heard about someone stealing a brand new boiler.

My parents also had this after they moved in. They had changed the locks but the previous owner attempted to let himself in with his key. That was fifty years ago.

I had landlord letting himself in for upkeeping(i did leave after 3 months, first house on uk. What a welcome 😂) , found tradesman home once and am very , very sure about someone coming into one of our flats. Pre video doorbell era.
Yes, i changed lock as renter and then put back old one. I rented fpr 12 years or so so only 3 incidents isn't bad I think.

If people are worried about tradesman breaking in does that include the locksmith changing the locks?

If it makes you feel more secure, do it.

Have you ever changed your locks?
They do it onsite and open it the locks in front of you or you can supply your own There is no opportunity to create copies of the keys.

I've bought a house but the previous owner keeps coming back and trying the lock. www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/3278148-Ive-bought-a-house-but-the-previous-owner-keeps-coming-back-and-trying-the-lock

If you google it, it seems to be happening ridiculously often. All forums have loads of posts like that

No, but I know three different people who were burgled the week after their builders finished the project. Builders may be lovely but they also subcontract/ use randoms for parts of the job, and everyone who has had access to the keysafe has had a chance to make a sneaky copy of it and sell it to their dodgy mate in return for a % of whatever is stolen.

OP if there is anything at all valuable in your house (including ID), change the locks now and do it again after the workmen finish. If there isn’t, just change the locks after the workmen are done.

But only a naive idiot allows various random workmen time to copy the key yet never changes their locks.

@Runnerduck34 you do know that “I’ve never heard of it happening” isn’t a valid way to assess risk don’t you? And before you ask, I am well into middle age and not prone to panic or anxiety.

I do, however, work in the lock trade. And I 100% advise changing your locks when you move into a new build for reasons which have nothing to do with cheeky fucker neighbours letting themselves in, which I have explained up thread.

@AlfietheSchnauzer yes burglars don't need keys but having them certainly makes their task easier!

Exactly that happened to us in the 1980s.

.

Why are people so against changing locks? Even if nobody with a spare key has nefarious intentions, it's just not a good idea!

Didn't that story crop up earlier in the thread? I honestly think that if I'd gone away and somebody had watered my plants I would know. I.e. they wouldn't be all dried up.
So I call bs