Never enough keys

[Ponderingwindow]

I’m not British so I am wondering if this is a British phenomenon. I have noticed a trend over the years of posters not having enough keys for all the people who need them. Sometimes this is for their own flat. Sometimes this is for a hotel room or Airbnb. It is a recurring theme that causes no end of headaches.

are keys especially expensive in the UK or difficult to obtain. I can go to any hardware store and get a key cut. It’s standard practice to keep an emergency spare in the home and most people give another spare to a trusted friend or family member to hold just in case.

I always ask hotels for enough keys. Even dc gets one at this point because she is old enough that we don’t stick together every single second.

I'm British and no idea what you are talking about. I have enough keys. As far as I'm aware, everyone I know has enough keys.

In my case it's a disorganised thing! I always forget if I need a new key for whatever reason, and then it drops further down the to do list until it falls off entirely 😂

I swear I'm a competent adult in (most) other areas!

I think it's because there's been 2 threads and both had only one set of keys between a couple.

That makes more sense! I was utterly baffled at the lack of keys.

I'm British and completely baffled how people do not have keys for all adults in the home plus a SPARE set for emergencies.

There's no excuse. It costs a small amount most of the time too.

We have 6 sets of keys for 4 people
Plus 1 for PILs who sometimes needs one
Plus a spare because it was 3 for 2 on key cutting.

It was £20 per key!

This is one of those things that some British people make up in to a 'thing'. It's not that difficult but for some the basic task of going to a locksmith is too tricky to fit into daily life.
Some British locks do require special keys, not just the average deadlock, but there are plenty of locksmiths to cut Chubb keys and 'skeleton' keys.
A good solution is a keysafe by the door. Then people can know the combination without needing a key and it can be changed if necessary.

I've noticed it's a recurring theme on here.
Doesn't happen in our house as everyone has their own set (given on their 11th birthday with an identifiable keyring) and a spare set easily accessible.

I have a thing called a 'Skeleton Key' it's very, very thin and boney, and can open any lock, anywhere. It's almost like magic.

Unfortunately I put it down somewhere, and I'll be jiggered if I can remember where!

I hope it turns up soon.otherwise I'll have to carry my bike home from the station. 😥

There's 3 of us and we easily have 7 door keys 😬
They were maybe £4 each to have cut

This was a thing for me growing up - a house of 5 people and there'd only be one or two keys - lots of coordinating as to who would be home when

don't have many pleasant family memories but that has made me laugh 😄😄

I’ve seen these post and wondered the same thing. For most people getting a spare key is easy and fairly cheap. DH’s and my parents have spare keys to our house and we always keep a couple of spares in the drawer.

I did read a news article recently about it being really expensive for some tenants.

When I got keys cut recently, one was cheap... but the security laser pattern one (our front door key) was over £20. I can see it not being a priority

Its not always the keys
We need fobs for the door to the black and they are limited by the owner led management company (which is a good thing)
We have 5 sets because ours used to be a BTL but the general rule if 1 set per adult on council tax plus 1 spare. Not sure about children.