Western Australia Home Stories Winter 2024

Quick tips on keys

Would you know what to do if you were locked out of your home? Planning ahead and understanding your responsibilities around keys can save the stress and costs associated with lost, damaged, or forgotten keys.

Locked yourself out? If you find yourself locked out of your home and don’t have a spare key here are the steps to take: • During office hours: Contact your local Housing Choices office to borrow our set of keys. Remember, you need to return the keys once you have regained access to your home.

Preventing lockout charges The best way to prevent being locked out of your home is to plan ahead: • Get a spare key: Have a spare key cut and give it to someone you trust or keep it in a safe place like your wallet. Please be cautious who you give a key to and avoid hiding keys outside your home without a lock box. • Consider a key lockbox: You can purchase a key lockbox for secure storage, but make sure to get advice from a reliable source before buying one. If you want to attach a lockbox to an external wall, please seek approval from Housing Choices first.

Responsibilities around keys

As a tenant, you have certain responsibilities regarding your keys: • Cost of replacement: If you lose or damage your keys, you are responsible for the cost of replacing them. • Changing locks: Please don’t change the locks without our permission, as it breaches your tenancy agreement (except in cases of family violence as defined by the Residential Tenancies Act WA). If you have lost keys and are concerned about security, contact us as soon as you can.

• Outside of business hours: Call our Maintenance Hotline

on 1800 203 383 for an emergency locksmith. Be aware that you will be charged for the locksmith service and the after- hours call-out fee.

Any questions? Call our Maintenance Hotline on 1800 203 383 from 8am-4pm Monday-Friday.

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