Moving house: should you change the locks? (And when)

Moving day is exhausting and expensive, and security tends to slide to the bottom of the list behind removals, broadband and finding the kettle. That is a mistake worth correcting in the first hour. The keys handed to you on completion are almost certainly not the only set in existence — and your first days in a new home set the foundation for everything that follows.

Why change the locks when you move in at all?

Because the keys in your hand are not the only keys, and you cannot prove how many others exist. Every door you inherit comes with an unknown history of copies: the people who lived there, and everyone they ever trusted with access. Until you change or rekey, your security depends entirely on strangers’ good intentions.

Think about who plausibly held a key before you:

• The previous owner or tenant — and their partner, family and any ex.
• Cleaners, dog walkers, nannies and the trades who did past work.
• Estate agents who ran viewings, and anyone given an emergency spare.

Do you need whole new locks, or just new keys?

Usually you need new keys to old holes — not a whole new lock. On the most common modern doors the security lives in the cylinder, and swapping just that is quicker and cheaper than replacing the entire mechanism. What you actually change depends on the door type.

• uPVC and composite doors — replace the euro cylinder only. The multipoint mechanism in the door usually stays; the cylinder is the part keys turn, so a new one gives you fresh key control on its own.
• Wooden doors — these often carry a mortice lock. Rekeying is sometimes possible, but if it predates current standards this is the natural moment to fit a certified replacement.
• Rekeying — on some locks a locksmith can re-pin the existing cylinder to a new key instead of replacing it, which can suit a run of matching doors.

Because you are paying for the visit anyway, it is also the sensible time to step up to a TS007 anti-snap cylinder rather than swapping like-for-like. If insurance wording is on your mind, our guide to BS3621 and home insurance explains which standard your doors actually need.

What can you safely do yourself on moving day?

Plenty — short of cutting locks. The jobs below need no special tools and make you meaningfully safer within the first hour, before a locksmith has even arrived. None of them is irreversible.

1. Audit every way in. Walk the boundary and list every external door, window, garage and gate. You cannot secure what you have not counted.
2. Kill the old codes. Change any alarm code, garage remote pairing or keypad combination, and reset smart-doorbell access to your own account.
3. Test every door and window lock. Confirm each one actually throws and holds. Note anything stiff, loose or missing a key.
4. Keep valuables with you. Until the locks are changed, keep anything precious in the car or on your person, not stacked in the hallway.

What does a moving-day lock change cost?

These are typical UK market figures for the work, not our price — they vary with the door, the lock and who fits it. Our own number sits separately below, fixed on the phone before anyone travels, so you are never matching a range against a guess.

Set against the moving budget for paint, curtains and a new sofa, securing the home you just bought is a small line — and the only one on the list that keeps strangers out of it.

When should you call a locksmith instead?

Call when a wooden door needs a mortice cut, when you are unsure of the cylinder size, or when you want every external door changed in one visit on completion day. A moving-day change is usually a same-day job where the diary allows, but the earlier you book, the more certain the slot.

A locksmith can change or rekey every external door in one trip, advise which cylinder length your uPVC doors take so nothing is left protruding, and fit locks that match your insurance wording. You move in once; getting the security right on the first visit is worth more than splitting it across several.

Landlords and agents: locks between tenancies

If you look after property you don’t live in, the same logic applies at every changeover — the outgoing tenant, and anyone they shared a key with, should not keep access to your incoming tenant’s home. Fresh cylinders between tenancies are the cleanest way to guarantee that, and they protect you as much as the new occupant.

For portfolios, we run this as a planned job rather than an emergency, with one itemised invoice and payment at completion — never before, never chased afterwards. Our service for landlords and agents sets out how changeover work is scheduled and billed across multiple properties.