Social Housing Providers Are Rethinking Key Management, and the Results Speak for Themselves

London, UK - For housing associations and local authorities managing hundreds or thousands of properties, physical key access is one of those problems that rarely gets attention until something goes wrong. A missed contractor visit. A locksmith called out to a void property. A key nobody can account for.

The costs are real: staff time, delays to void turnaround, and the security risk of keys sitting in onsite lockboxes with no record of who has them.

One of the UK’s leading social housing providers, Peabody, was looking for a better solution to provide access to void properties while also curbing the high costs of contractor call outs.

In recent years, many have turned to KeyNest for key management thanks to an established online presence and a numerous network of partner stores. Peabody checked locations of the nearest KeyNest Points and decided to move forward with the expansive key exchange solution.

The Challenge

Void properties are where the problem is most acute. During inspection, works, and disposal processes, contractors, surveyors, and viewing agents all need access, often with no staff on-site to coordinate. Lockboxes offer no audit trail and limited security. Manual handovers eat into staff time and stall when a key goes missing.

Peabody, responsible for over 100,000 homes across London and the Home Counties, ran into this problem as its disposal programme grew in scale.

"Before KeyNest we were having issues with keys not being tracked properly, especially when a property was void for an extended period. There was very little visibility, and we would only find out we didn't have the keys when someone was visiting either for a job or a viewing. This slowed everything else down as we then had to urgently contact a locksmith." - Project Coordinator, Asset Optimisation Team

What Changed

The organisation introduced KeyNest Points, a network of thousands of secure key storage locations across the UK, typically within a short drive of the property in question.

Access is granted remotely to authorised users only. Every collection and return is logged automatically. Contractors, inspectors, and agents collect keys without any staff involvement, and the team can see exactly who has which key at any point.

"You can grant access remotely, and see exactly who collected a key and when, in a simplified and easy to monitor way." - Project Coordinator, Asset Optimisation Team

The organisation now estimates KeyNest saves between two and five hours per void per month across inspections, contractor visits, and viewings. Unnecessary lock changes have also fallen thanks to a new lack of misplaced keys.

The Broader Case for Social Housing

Beyond the time savings, moving keys off onsite lockboxes and into vetted KeyNest Point locations reduces the risk of loss, unauthorised access, and the security liability that comes with unoccupied properties. For teams working with multiple external parties, having a full access log addresses a compliance gap that lockboxes simply cannot close.

KeyNest connects with over 100 property management platforms and operates across 30 countries, making it practical for organisations managing portfolios at scale.

To read the full case study, see here...

About KeyNest

KeyNest is a key management platform founded in London in 2016. It operates across 30 countries with over 100,000 clients and 10 million key movements logged. Its products include KeyNest Points, a network of 7,000 secure key exchange locations worldwide, and KeyNest Lockers, wall-mounted smart key storage for unmanned access management. KeyNest is rated 4.9 on G2 and Excellent on Trustpilot.