The Alcoi campus of the Universitat Politècnica de València counted 2,387 students in a recent academic year, including 96 international students, mostly in business administration, computing and industrial design. Many of them share flats with people they did not know before September.
A lock on your own bedroom door is a reasonable thing to want. It is also a change to somebody else’s property, so it is worth doing properly.
Who has to agree
The flat belongs to the landlord, and so does every door in it. Before anything is fitted:
- Ask the landlord, in writing. A WhatsApp message with a clear yes is enough. Most landlords agree to a simple lock if they can have a key and it comes off cleanly at the end.
- Tell your flatmates. A lock on one room tends to lead to locks on all of them, and that is better decided together.
- Check the contract. Some rental contracts already say what you can and cannot change.
Which kind of lock
There are two sensible choices for an interior door:
- A privacy lock with a thumb turn inside, like a bathroom lock, with a small slot outside that can be opened in an emergency. Keeps flatmates and visitors out of your room; does not stop a determined intruder.
- A keyed lock with a key outside and a thumb turn inside. Lets you lock the room when you leave.
Whichever you choose, the inside must open without a key. A bedroom you can only leave with a key is a trap in a fire, and no locksmith worth ringing will fit one.
Interior doors in many flats are light, hollow-core doors. A lock on one keeps people from wandering in; it is not a safe. Laptops, passports and cash are better kept in a small safe fixed to a wall, or not left in the flat over the holidays.
The front door matters more
In a shared flat, the front door is the real security, and it is the one most often overlooked. The previous year’s tenants may still have keys, and so may their friends. Landlords who change the front door cylinder between tenancies take that question off the table; tenants can ask for it before moving in.
The street door of the block is different again: it belongs to the community of owners, not to the landlord, and is covered in the guide to street doors that no longer latch.
In June
At the end of the year, hand back every key you were given, including the bedroom key, and get a message from the landlord saying they have them. If the bedroom lock was yours, ask whether it should stay or be removed, and leave the door as you found it.
Landlords who inherit a flat with a drawer full of unlabelled keys from years of tenants will find the guide to inheriting a house in Alcoi useful too.