Norwood is a renter’s suburb. With a renter rate of 45 to 48 percent — nearly double the South Australian state average of 27.6 percent — more than four in ten Norwood households are renting. The suburb’s rental stock is concentrated in semi-detached terraces, period cottages converted to units, and apartment blocks built into the Edwardian and interwar streetscape, particularly near The Parade where café and dining access is at a premium.
That rental context matters for security in a specific way: when you move into a rental property, the key history of that property is completely opaque to you. You don’t know how many tenants have lived there. You don’t know how many keys have been cut. You don’t know whether the previous tenant returned every key, or whether the property manager has actually changed the locks since the last tenancy ended.
In a suburb where the property crime victim risk is 1 in 14 — one of the higher rates in the inner east — this isn’t a trivial concern. The good news is that it’s a concern you can largely address upfront, before you move your belongings in, by asking the right questions before you sign.
The Five Questions
1. Have the Locks Been Rekeyed Since the Last Tenancy?
This is the fundamental question, and it’s the one that most renters don’t ask.
Under the South Australian Residential Tenancies Act 1995, a landlord has an obligation to provide premises that are reasonably secure. The South Australian Consumer and Business Services position is that locks should be changed or rekeyed between tenancies, but this is interpreted as best practice rather than always strictly enforced in every case. In practice, many properties — particularly older rental stock in suburbs like Norwood — cycle through tenants without the locks being consistently changed.
Ask directly: “Have the locks been changed or rekeyed since the last tenant vacated?” If the answer is yes, ask when, and whether there is documentation. If the answer is no or uncertain, ask whether this can be done before your move-in date as a condition of the lease.
This is not an unreasonable request. A property manager who handles multiple properties across Norwood and the eastern suburbs should understand that rekeying between tenancies is a standard professional practice. If there is resistance, understand that a Norwood renter is entitled to request that their landlord rekey the property — and if the landlord declines, the renter may, in some circumstances, engage a locksmith and deduct the cost from rent, subject to specific conditions under SA tenancy law.
2. How Many Sets of Keys Exist, and Who Has Them?
When you receive your key set at lease commencement, ask for a key register — a written record of how many copies of each key exist and who has been issued with them.
A responsible property management agency will maintain a key register as a matter of course. In older Norwood properties where keys may have been duplicated by successive tenants, the answer may be that the exact number of copies in circulation is genuinely unknown — which is itself useful information, and is a strong argument for rekeying.
The key register should include keys to all external doors, side gates, garage, letterbox, and any common area or building entry keys in an apartment or unit complex.
3. Is There a Master Key, and Who Can Access It?
This question is particularly relevant for Norwood’s stock of older apartment buildings and converted terrace-row properties, where a single master key may open multiple dwellings.
A master key arrangement means that a single key — held by the property manager, the building manager, and potentially other parties — can open your unit. Understanding who holds the master key, what the policy is for when it can be used, and what record is kept of its use is relevant security information.
This is not about distrusting your landlord or property manager. It’s about understanding the security architecture of the property you’re moving into. For a Norwood unit near The Parade where you’ll have laptops, valuables, and potentially significant personal items, knowing the master key situation is simply prudent.
Under SA tenancy law, a landlord is entitled to enter a property with appropriate notice (except in emergency). The master key arrangement needs to be understood within that framework — not as an unrestricted access mechanism, but as a managed key system with records and protocols.
4. Can I Add Additional Security Hardware?
This question matters more for Norwood’s period rental stock than for newer buildings.
Many of Norwood’s rental properties near The Parade are older terrace-row cottages or semi-detached period homes where the standard is a single front door lock and perhaps a single rear door lock. Sash windows on the ground floor may have only swivel fasteners. Side gates may be secured only by a barrel bolt.
As a renter, you are generally entitled under SA tenancy law to request permission to add additional security hardware — secondary deadbolts, sash window locks, security screen doors — at your own cost, with the condition that you restore the property to its original state at the end of the tenancy unless the landlord agrees to retain the improvements. Alternatively, many landlords will agree to fund security improvements as a condition of the lease if the ask is framed as a maintenance issue rather than a modification request.
Ask the property manager: “Is there anything preventing me from adding security hardware such as window locks or a secondary deadbolt at my own expense?” A clear answer upfront prevents a dispute at end of lease.
5. What Is the Security Standard on the Rear Door and Any Side Gates?
Front doors in Norwood’s rental properties are usually attended to — they’re visible to the street, landlords understand they matter. Rear doors, side gates, and secondary entry points often are not.
Before you sign, ask to walk through all external access points during the inspection: the rear door, the side gate if there is one, the garage or parking area if it’s included, and any communal entry point in an apartment block. Check whether each point has a keyed lock or only a latch or barrel bolt.
If you find a rear door on a passage latch only — no deadbolt — or a side gate with a barrel bolt, note these on your inspection report and ask whether they can be addressed before move-in. A property manager who is managing the property professionally will treat these as legitimate maintenance items.
Pro Tip: At your pre-move inspection, test every lock while doors are open — turn the key and manually check the bolt shoots fully. A bolt that doesn’t fully shoot isn’t doing its job, even if the key works. Note any that don’t function properly on your condition report.
The Renter’s Rights Framework in SA
South Australia’s Residential Tenancies Act gives renters specific rights around security and access that are worth knowing.
A renter can request that a landlord provide a copy of all keys — and the landlord must provide them, within a reasonable time. A renter can change their own locks with the landlord’s consent, and the landlord must not unreasonably withhold that consent if the renter is willing to restore the locks at the end of the tenancy. A renter who is concerned about the security of the property can contact Consumer and Business Services (CBS) for guidance on their specific situation.
What renters cannot do without consent: install permanent security modifications, change locks without agreement, or refuse access to a landlord who has given appropriate notice.
The practical takeaway is that the renter-landlord conversation about security is one where renters have more standing than many assume. Coming to that conversation informed — knowing what the property currently has, what you want, and what the legal framework allows — gives you a much better chance of starting the tenancy with security that’s actually adequate.
A Conversation After a Break-In on Kensington Road
I was called to a rental property on Kensington Road — one of the arterial streets that links Norwood to Kensington, with mixed residential and commercial character — after a burglary. The tenant had moved in six months earlier. The rear door had a passage latch only; there was no deadbolt. The side gate had a barrel bolt that could be reached from outside.
When I arrived, the tenant told me that they’d noted both issues on the condition report at move-in and had flagged them to the property manager. Nothing had been done. After the break-in, the landlord engaged us to fit a deadbolt on the rear door and a slam lock on the side gate — work that would have taken an hour and a half before the break-in, and cost a fraction of the insurance claim.
The tenant’s reflection: “I should have pushed harder. Or just hired a locksmith myself and dealt with it later.”
Both of those options would have been better than what happened. The lesson isn’t that landlords are negligent — most aren’t, and most will act on legitimate security concerns when they’re clearly raised. The lesson is that a renter who asks the right questions upfront, documents the answers, and follows up in writing when there’s an outstanding issue is in a much stronger position than one who defers and hopes for the best.
Before You Sign
Renting near The Parade is genuinely attractive — the proximity to Norwood’s dining and lifestyle is real value. But in a suburb with a 1 in 14 property crime rate and 271 theft incidents in 2025, arriving at a new rental without understanding its security situation is an unnecessary exposure.