Tenancy agreements key holding rights

[frantic53]

I wonder if any landlords out there can help me with regard to tenants' rights in a rented home? The house we are renting was previously used as a holiday cottage and, as the landlord lives some 300 miles away, a lady in the village had been appointed as a key holder. We have now been living here for 18 months as a family home with all our personal belongings. I was pretty astonished to discover that this person still holds a key despite my asking the landlord's agent on moving in that they, the agency, ask for the key back.

I have personal reasons for not wanting this person to hold a key to my home, I did not know about her holding the key until after the contract had been signed and a moving date organised. I am even more annoyed to find that the keys are stored in her house with a keyring bearing the address of this property attached!

I understood that, as long as we kept to our contract, the landlord, or his agent, couldn't just let themselves in without first notifying us? Therefore I don't see any good reason for this person to have a key to our home?

Thank you.

Bump

Have you asked the LL if you can change the locks?

Many LL and tenants do this regularly because if a house has been let for quite a few years to numerous people, who knows how many people still have a key.

As a tenant who has rented for years, I do this with every property I've lived in (with permission of course)

Why do you think they would enter the property? Many people ask neighbours to hold keys for them, my neighbour holds keys for us and vice versa would never occur to me to enter his property. Perhaps they just want the knowledge that someone living close holds a key in the event of an emergency.

But you can change the locks, with the LL permission if your that worried.

Why would I go to the expense of changing the locks? All that is needed is for this person to stop harassing my DD for the keys back. DD found out from another neighbour that this person still had keys when she inadvertently went out without hers yesterday and called at a neighbour's to ask if she could wait until I got back. Neighbour said, "X has a key", DD said. "No, mum asked landlord's agent to take them back when we moved in" But neighbour phoned X and, sure enough,she still had them.

Have you asked this person to stop asking dd for the keys? Have you told the landlord/agent that you do not want this individual to have the key?

I told the LL's agent before we moved in that I wasn't happy with this person having a key and that I would like him to get it back from her, he said he would and I trusted him.

I'm just as annoyed, or perhaps even more so, that these keys are in her house labelled with the address of our house and with details of which doors they fit! If anyone were to break into HER house, and I have no authority over how secure her home is, naturally, she is basically handing them access to ours on a plate! Where that might leave us with our insurers is another question, too.

You can change the barrel on a Yale lock for under £10.

Sadly, there is no Yale lock and I would have to change locks on two doors.