As a locksmith working in Plymouth and the surrounding areas I regularly attend rented accommodation. I have been consistently confronted in recent months, with the grey area of potential conflicts in security against an adequate means of escape in the event of a fire. A recent job provides a case study for my reasoning; a landlord was requesting a thumbturn euro cylinder be fitted to the main entrance door which leads to the passageway of his two flats, in order to allow keyless egress. This was done but my concern was the flats themselves, as they both had mortise sashlocks fitted. When asked how the tenants would exit either flat in the event of an emergency I was advised that “they leave the key in the door.” While this does seem like a practical solution, there are a number of factors that could change i.e. what if the key wasn’t in the door or was to fall out at that critical moment whilst in the state of panic? I have researched the laws concerning this matter and found a landlord is not by law required to provide keyless egress for flats or residential houses however, I would ask the question, could tenants escape if the improbable happened? A simple risk assessment could ensure that the correct amount of security be achieved whilst not compromising the safety of your tenants, with every property being different.

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