Housemate Moved Out and Kept the Key

Locksmith Amsterdam

A Former Housemate Still Has a Key to Your Flat

An unreturned housemate key in Amsterdam is a key in circulation that opens your door and that you cannot cancel, which makes a cylinder change the only real solution.

Shared living in this city moves fast. People take a room for six months, sublet to a friend, leave for another country and post the key back “next week”. Half the time nothing bad is intended and the key simply sits in a drawer in Lisbon. That does not make it any less of an open door.

Count the keys, not the people

The number that matters is not how many housemates left, it is how many keys were cut over the years. In a flat that has turned over four or five times, nobody knows. Copies were made privately, spares were given to partners, one was left with a neighbour and forgotten.

If you cannot name the holder of every key, the honest answer is that the door is not under your control.

Changing the cylinder

Replacing the cylinder invalidates every key at once, including the ones nobody remembers. It takes about ten minutes, needs no drilling and leaves the door, handle and lock case exactly as they are. New keys come with the new cylinder. Everything involved is described on our locksmith services page.

In a rental, keep the old cylinder in a drawer and refit it when the tenancy ends. That satisfies almost every landlord and costs nothing extra.

Keeping control afterwards

A certified cylinder comes with a security card, and new keys can only be ordered by whoever holds it. In a shared flat, that single detail settles most future arguments before they start: everyone gets a key, nobody quietly acquires a sixth one.

Write down who holds which key and when they got it. It sounds bureaucratic for a flat share and it is the difference between a clean handover and a dispute over the deposit.

The awkward conversation

You do not owe anyone an explanation for changing your own lock, and you do not have to make it personal. A short message saying the lock has been changed and asking them to post the old key back if they still have it is enough. Most people respond with an apology and a promise they had meant to return it. The few who react badly are usually the reason the change was worth making.

Deposits and the end of a tenancy

Keys are one of the most common deductions from a deposit in Amsterdam, and almost always because nobody counted them at the start. Note the number of keys on the day you move in, note them again on the day you leave, and keep the removed cylinder if you fitted your own. That single habit removes the argument entirely.