FLATS • COMMUNAL DOORS
Locked out of your flat?
If you are locked out of a flat, say on the phone whether the problem is the communal entrance, your own front door, or both — it changes the job and the price. Your own door can normally be opened without damage from £132. A communal door is usually the freeholder's or managing agent's responsibility, and their authority may be needed before it is touched.
Answered 24 hours · every rate published
What to do right now
- Work out which door you are actually locked out of. Standing in the lobby unable to get into your own flat is a different job from standing in the street unable to get into the building. Say which it is when you call.
- Try the intercom and your neighbours. Someone else in the building can usually let you into the communal area, which at least gets you out of the weather while the rest is sorted.
- Call the letting agent or managing agent if the building has one. Many hold keys, and out-of-hours numbers exist more often than people realise. This is the cheapest route when it works.
- Do not force a communal door. It is shared property, the repair is billed to the building, and in most blocks it is the one door you are specifically not permitted to touch.
- Have proof you live there ready. A tenancy agreement, post addressed to you at the flat, a driving licence, or a neighbour who can confirm it. Expect to be asked, and be glad you were — so would you be, about the person outside your door.
- Call with the door type and floor. uPVC, timber or a fire door; which floor; whether the key turns at all; and whether there is a separate communal entrance to get through first.
What it costs
Emergency entry is listed from £132, and that covers a standard flat door opened without damage. On top of that sit the call-out, charged on arrival and varying by time of day, and labour, charged from a minimum of one hour. Every rate is published on the pricing page, including the overnight and weekend figures.
Two things specific to flats can change the figure. A communal entrance may add time, and may not be ours to open at all without authority. And a fire door into a flat is often fitted with a different lock from a house door, which can take longer to open non-destructively.
Communal doors, freeholders and managing agents
The door into the building usually belongs to the freeholder or is maintained by a managing agent on behalf of all the leaseholders. That matters for two reasons. The first is permission: a locksmith opening or changing a shared door without authority is working on property that is not the caller's. The second is cost: work on a communal door is normally recharged through the service charge, not billed to one resident.
If the communal door has failed rather than simply locked you out — a broken access control panel, a failed mag-lock, a door closer that has given way — that is a repair for the managing agent to instruct. Tell us what you are seeing and we will say plainly whether it is a job we can take from you or one that has to come through the agent.
Your own flat door is straightforward: it is yours, and it is treated like any other front door.
Students and shared houses
A shared flat where the other tenants are away is one of the most common lockouts we take, and it is worth knowing in advance that a locksmith will still ask you to prove you live there. A tenancy agreement on your phone is enough, and it is worth having a photograph of it saved before you need it.
Where a landlord or university accommodation office holds keys, call them first — it is almost always cheaper. Where a lock is being changed because a housemate has moved out or keys have gone missing, that is the landlord's decision rather than one tenant's, and we will ask.
Locked out of a flat across Lancashire
locked out of a flat in Preston · Blackburn · Blackpool · Burnley · Lancaster · Morecambe · Ormskirk · all service areas
Common questions
Can you open a communal front door?
Sometimes, but not automatically. A communal entrance normally belongs to the freeholder or is managed by an agent on behalf of the leaseholders, so their authority is usually needed before it is opened or changed. Tell us on the phone that a communal door is involved and we will say honestly whether it is something we can do for you directly.
What proof do I need that I live in the flat?
A tenancy agreement, recent post addressed to you at that address, a driving licence or a utility bill. A neighbour or a managing agent who can confirm it also works. Any locksmith who opens a flat door without asking anything at all should worry you rather than reassure you.
My housemate has moved out and taken a key. Should the lock be changed?
Probably, but it is the landlord's decision rather than a tenant's, because the lock is part of the property. Raise it with them; most agree quickly, and a cylinder change is inexpensive. If you own the flat, it is simply your call, and a replacement cylinder starts at £120.
Is a flat door harder to open than a house door?
Not usually, though a fire door into a flat is often fitted with a different lock from a typical house front door, and that can take longer to open without damage. The bigger difference is the communal entrance, which may need the agent's authority rather than more time.
Related help
Locked out of your house · Locked out at night · Key snapped in the lock · uPVC door won't lock
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